In the words of the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G., Gen Zalpha is “throwing their hands in the air, because they’re true players!”

The Doux – a Black-owned, independent, natural hair care brand founded by Maya and Brian Smith that began during hip-hop’s golden age—is charting high on Roblox.

According to brand officials, since The Doux’s entry onto the popular gaming platform last month, its game, “My Salon Empire,” has garnered some 100,000 gamers per day and reached nearly 3 million game plays to date.

Inclusive Representation

The brand says it aims to meet the younger generations where they are by bringing textured hair, salon culture, entrepreneurship and inclusive representation into the gaming world. In its first month on Roblox, My Salon Empire surged to No. 7 among all branded Roblox games based on concurrent users—ranking ahead global properties including KPop Demon Hunters and Hello Kitty, officials said.

According to the brand, the game has reached approximately 800,000 unique users and has attracted more than 28,000 followers. What’s more, the audience is 87% female, with approximately three-quarters under 18 years old.

“It’s important to be where the younger generation is creating, playing and connecting,” said The Doux Founder Maya Smith. “I think our presence on Roblox isn’t just for gaming [purposes]; it’s to inspire the next generation that’s creating games that want to test games. I have a son that wants to be a professional gamer and create and design games. It really is speaking their language.”

Smith said My Salon Empire was a “Doux family project” that spoke to the brand’s origin story. Smith created the brand in 1995 with her husband, Brian, the brand’s chief creative officer, following her stint in beauty school. Three decades later, this indie has grown its retail expansion at Target, Walgreens, CVS, Walmart and Sally Beauty.
Many of the brand’s bestsellers—named for the emerging hip-hop artists during that epoch (like Mousse Def, a nod to Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Big Poppa Defining Gel after Biggie Smalls—are featured in the game.

With My Salon Empire, Smith said she hopes to educate users on their hair texture and the Doux’s products that correlate to the style they wish to achieve, while entertaining them with the storytelling about products and the rap artists.

“I started in the beauty industry in the ‘90s when a lot of these artists were just emerging and their records were charting,” said Maya. “So much of the inspiration from The Doux is part of my childhood as a Gen X/Millennial. I wanted everything I created to really represent my lived experience as a hairstylist, the representation of hip-hop, art and now technology —they’re all part of The Doux journey. I feel the game itself ropes in all our brand story and origin from entrepreneurship to music, creativity and gaming.”

Mastering Textured Hair Care Techniques

The Doux’s Roblox entry comes on the heels of its work with Black Girls Code, a nonprofit organization that focuses on engaging African American girls and other youth with computer programming education to nurture careers in technology.

“What our younger generation is driven by is the ability to be seen and recognized, not just the experience, but also being able to identify with the platforms, the characters, and I think we’ve done that with this game,” said Smith.

Developed by Exclusible (a studio that created branded Roblox experiences for ELF Beauty), the experience invites players to build and manage their own beauty salon, where they serve clients, master textured hair care techniques and grow their business by managing product inventory, hiring staff and expanding the operations. Players progress by completing hair consultations, customer service, hiring staff and shampooing and styling hair.

“They resonate with the brand because they know they’re thought of and there’s a place to participate in this beauty conversation from a lens that’s outside of selling shampoo or gel,” said Smith.