“Hey, I really like that Hawaiian shirt,” you think during a session of your favorite video game. You take it to the virtual cashier, who rings it up for you. The next morning, the shirt is sitting in your mailbox. Not in the game, but in real life. If this reads like science fiction, it won’t for long.

When it comes to gaming, APIs can help with integrated development, analytics, and social integration. We’ve also previously touched on a couple of ways in which they’re used for payment processing and monetization.

Most gamers, for example, have spent a few bucks on the occasional cosmetic or loot box. But the relationship between APIs and gaming runs much deeper than that. As well as powering the purchase of in-game items, a trend of real-life purchases within gaming is rapidly developing.

Roblox, for example, recently released a suite of commerce APIs (in conjunction with Shopify) to enable in-game retail commerce. We’ll explore this release, examine the impact this might have on the retail space, and consider whether immersive environments are the future of shopping.

The Story of in-Game Purchases (Started With a Horse)

Valued at more than $400 billion, the video game industry is both enormous and growing rapidly. APIs such as Stripe and PayPal, alongside specialized solutions like Xsolla and Coda Payments, make up the backbone of gaming’s payment processing infrastructure.

In addition to purchasing games via branded web stores, payment APIs are also widely used to pay for downloadable content (DLC) and microtransactions. The term microtransactions refers to purchases made in and around a game’s ecosystem that extend beyond the game itself. It covers things like cosmetics (or skins), consumable items, and in-game currency.

The first microtransaction from a major publisher was Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion‘s now infamous Horse Armor, sold for $2.50 via the Xbox Live Marketplace. The move was widely criticized at the time but opened the floodgates for a business model that still thrives today.

The Xbox Live Marketplace (now Microsoft Store) was powered, in part, by the Xbox Services API (XSAPI). In addition to providing information about games and their prices, the API could be used to integrate in-app purchases — like the Horse Armor Pack — and manage subscriptions.

In other words? APIs have been there since the very beginning of in-game buying.

The Retail-ification of Games

There are various videos out there about shopping malls in video games, many of which highlight a key disconnect: malls have, historically, appeared in games for decades without a way to purchase the items showcased in them. However, the introduction of services like Roblox’s Commerce APIs has effectively joined those dots.

Roblox launched CommerceService in May of 2025, an offering that “enables creators, brands, manufacturers, and IP holders to link off-platform retail or e-commerce purchases to avatar items and accessories on Roblox.” Translation: when you buy a hoodie on Roblox, you get one to wear yourself and one for your avatar as well.

For now, Shopify is Roblox’s only integration partner. But they highlight that “eligible creators (including brands) can bundle physical purchases with digital items via Roblox’s new Commerce APIs.” That statement is a clear hint that we should expect to see partnerships with brands along the lines of Disney, Nike, and Netflix, as we’ve seen with Fortnite* collaborations.

*Epic Games (the publishers of Fortnite) is, incidentally, another example of a company that allows developers to use a wide range of APIs to connect to services like Anti-Cheat, Player Reports, Voice, and, of particular relevance here, their EOS Ecom Interface.

Make no mistake, this is more than just a proof of concept. A press release by Roblox cites the example of creator studio Twin Atlas leveraging Roblox Commerce APIs in games like Dragon Adventures and World // Zero to generate six-figure revenue streams in a matter of weeks.

The Gamification of Retail

APIs are disrupting how purchases are made in video games. But the reverse is also true. Video games (and APIs) are changing how real-life purchases are made. For an example of this, look at Walmart Realm.

In Realm, you can browse items from Walmart’s catalog in immersive environments like Izzy’s Tuscan Getaway, Steampunk Tower, and Cyberpunk City. Then, thanks to Walmart’s Marketplace APIs, check out and place an order at the end of the experience.

Unlike Walmart Discovered, an immersive experience built in (coincidentally enough) Roblox, Realm is a standalone experience made using Unreal Engine in conjunction with Emperia, who have also worked with Bloomingdales and Tommy Hilfiger on similar products.

These experiences have plenty in common with video game environments, but if some of them look a little janky right now, it’s clear from the likes of the latest Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer that engines like Unreal and Rockstar’s own RAGE are capable of generating photorealistic (or near photorealistic) environments… if the general public wants to engage with them, that is.

And that’s not necessarily a given.

Because, like with those fancy API-enhanced grocery stores, there are some pretty significant barriers to entry here: the prohibitive price of required equipment, general tech fatigue, and resistance to change, to name a few.

Wide rates of adoption aren’t yet clear. Still, repeat business appears to be a key driver of revenue here, with around half of Twin Atlas’ (mentioned above) Roblox Commerce orders coming from repeat customers. That’s something that could be seen as problematic, given that typical customers in this space tend to be on the younger side.

Indeed, research by the UK Gambling Commission found that almost half of all young people surveyed had paid for in-game items either with money or virtual currency. We’re hoping to see companies selling digital goods take appropriate measures to ensure responsible spending.

What the Future of Shopping Looks Like

In shopping, the lines between real and virtual have been blurred for a while now. Consider Ray-Ban’s Virtual Try-on technology or Amazon’s View in Your Room, two augmented reality features that blend 3D renderings with the real world. Some are even opting for an Apple Vision Pro instead of a physical TV.

The next logical step in that process is a closer link between the digital and physical, whether that means digital goods that “exist” all the time or using digital means to purchase physical items. To be clear, this isn’t some far-fetched Ready Player One scenario — we’re already there.

APIs are a vital ingredient in the expansion of mixed reality (MR) retail because they facilitate the bridging of that gap between physical and digital. Without them, it’s unlikely that Roblox would have been able to partner with Shopify (and go to market) at the pace they’ve done so.

In a piece published a few years ago, we talked about how APIs are reshaping retail via the concept of smart stores. And, although such stores still exist, the vast expenditure on platforms like Roblox and Fortnite underscores the extent to which Gen Z (and beyond…NFTs anyone?) are willing to spend big on products that may or may not physically exist.