• Nedbank has announced it has created a game within Roblox called Chow Town.
• The financial institution says it is the first African bank to do so.
• Chow Town is designed to help players learn about entrepreneurship and investing.

Today an odd release landed in our inbox as Nedbank announced that it had launched a game in Roblox called Chow Town.

While we initially wrote this off as a brand wanting to advertise to a younger audience, much like Samsung has done in Fortnite recently, Chow Town could be a useful resource for those wanting to teach kids about entrepreneurship and investing.

This as players will need to set up and expand a startup restaurant through incremental investment. The game was developed by Sea Monster for Nedbank, with the financial institution also noting that it is the first African bank to roll out something like this.

Explaining the mechanics of the game, Nedbank says Chow Town is tycoon-style in nature, where players can open a virtual restaurant.

The restaurant offers a combination of uniquely South African foods, such as boerewors rolls that can be made and served to guests. From there, the restaurant then develops as the player unlocks new food tiers and expands the restaurant in a bid to illustrate how to start and grow a business.

“As a brand that is at the forefront of digital and technological innovation, our aim is to disruptively transform banking by leveraging the efficacy of digital platforms to offer alternative experiences to engage, surprise and delight our clients. Roblox is incredibly popular among children aged between 9 and 12 years, which is exactly the right age to start learning about entrepreneurship and making good money choices,” highlighted Khensani Nobanda, group executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank, in that aforementioned press release.

Whether kids will want to play a game from Nedbank remains to be seen, but it is at least good to see that the bank is not simply looking to push advertising or products in their faces.

If you want to boot up Chow Town in Roblox, head here.