Far from worrying that it’s damaging and anti-social, some mums and dads see gaming as a route to prize money and – as the UK’s first gamer film is released – big screen success
Like many parents Nikki Moore, admits she often has to tell her daughter Abigail that she spends too much time on her computer. So when she saw a Facebook advert pop up asking, ‘Does your child love Roblox?’ and showed it to Abigail, the 11-year-old begged her to find out more. It was a shout out from a casting agency looking for children to take part in the first feature-length gaming competition movie, Kartoon Channel Gaming Challenge UK, in cinemas this Easter.
Flight attendant Nikki, who lives with her business development director husband Rob, and their two children in Hartlepool, County Durham, says: “Abigail started playing Roblox when she was about five – all her primary school friends were on it. I didn’t have a clue about it myself. If anything, I was always saying ‘you’ve had too much time on that, come off!’ After I saw the Facebook ad and applied, I got an email back, then a phone call. And it just snowballed.”
Since Roblox – a platform for 3D digital virtual worlds and games – was first released in 2006, it has become a gaming phenomenon. Whatever your position on computer games, their popularity is undeniable, with nearly two-thirds of children aged eight to 12 years old believed to play the games every week in the UK.
Some of the most popular Roblox games include Brookhaven, a role-playing game in a virtual city; Adopt Me!, where players adopt pets; and Blox Fruits, where players become a ‘master swordsman’. But now Roblox is making the leap from the games console to the silver screen for a film in which the stars aren’t famous faces but six British junior school children.
Ilyaan, 10, from Blackburn, Lancashire; Jaymee, 9, from Fife, Scotland; Thomas, 10, from Cornwall; Ottie, 11, from Surrey; Isaac, 12, from North Yorkshire, and Abigail, 11, from Hartlepool, were selected from thousands of youngsters who applied. The children competed in eight bespoke Roblox challenges including Rumble Raceway, Shark Bait, Cock-a-Doodle Dash and Puppy Parkour over one weekend, filmed at home with high-definition webcams and headsets.
Losing competitors were eventually eliminated at the end of each round – with prizes available including a PS5, iPad and mobile phones. Abigail, who has an older brother Ashton, 14, loves singing and dancing, and has already appeared on the TV show The Voice Kids. “I’ve always wanted to star in musicals, amazing programmes and films. So while we were filming, I kept thinking I wanted to do more of this.
“The one challenge I found tricky was Dino Dash, and I loved the one that was set on a farm,” says Abigail. “At the end of it, I won an Apple iPad. I was so happy.” Nikki says, “It was a full-on weekend – one 12-hour day because we had a few technical hitches. That was great for Abigail because I couldn’t tell her to get off the game. We brought her food, drink, and snacks – that was the perfect weekend for her.”
Video game films are having a moment: Super Mario Bros. The Movie broke box office records in 2023, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 came out late last year, and next month the £150million production, Minecraft The Movie, starring Jason Momoa and Jack Black will be released, and a film based on Nintendo’s cult game, Legend of Zelda, is in the early production process.
Kartoon Channel Gaming Challenge UK is a more modest endeavour however, with a budget of £450,000. Kartoon Channel president Paul Robinson says: “We know many adults will have never even heard of Roblox and the prospect of watching children play video games in an 85-minute film may not instantly appeal.”
But he describes the film as akin to a game show, like watching The Chase or The Generation Game with your family. “We’re confident that parents and grandparents will come along. They want to understand the things their kids love doing and be able to engage with them.”
Kartoon Channel Gaming Challenge UK (rated U) will be released in Vue cinemas on April 19
Ilyaan Dar was 10 when he took part in the film. His father Ikrash, 39, a GP from Blackburn, Lancashire, believes that his love of computer games could lead to a career
Ilyaan Dar was the youngest child taking part in the movie but this didn’t stop his dad putting him forward when he saw an advert on social media asking for players. Ilyaan has been playing Roblox since the age of six, and has also competed in archery, horseriding, gymnastics and also made his own YouTube videos.
So Ikrash, who is married to NHS pharmacist Laila, was confident that despite his young age, Ilyaan could hold his own. “I told Ilyaan I’d seen a Roblox competition where you can win a PS5 games console. I’d already promised him one if he got good grades, and thought if he won it, it would be a win-win,” he says.
“Ilyaan has always loved gaming, he’s one of those kids. So whenever an opportunity comes up, I like to open doors for him and then just go with the flow. We’re in a video game era. Kids are either playing games, or they’re watching videos of kids playing games. I’d rather Ilyaan be the kid playing.
“From a young age, we did a little trial of creating YouTube videos, as he’s always had a really good persona and charisma on video. I thought the competition would be a good opportunity, a step up from him doing our videos. We applied, and got a call from the producers, and we started having Zoom meetings and everyone went out of their way to meet our needs. Really commendable.”
Ikrash took Ilyaan, who has a younger brother Zaydaan, four, to gymnastics classes from when he was 18 months old – which transitioned to wrestling. His dad says he’s a sociable child, who loves being outdoors. “Ilyaan picks up things really quickly. He was the youngest competing in the Roblox film, and we just left him to his own devices and every so often we’d hear him screaming from joy in his room.
“He won a PS5, a gaming laptop, the headset, and Roblox Robux money. But the prizes were secondary. The real prize was him having fun, him getting his face out there and being appreciated by an agency in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, so that was the main prize.”
