According to a company executive, Roblox will focus on creating more polished and complex experiences to help expand its audience beyond children and appeal to older players, as well. 2020 was a standout year for the popular game-meets-online creation tool. Since its launch in 2006, million of users have created their own games in Roblox, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in success. The growing player base means that Roblox reportedly paid out a record $250 million to creators in 2020.
March is also expected to see the launch of Roblox stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The public offering of shares in the company has been hit with several delays after originally being slated for December 2020. This was largely a result of several other companies, such as AirBnB, also launching but also due to the SEC asking for the Roblox Corporation to make some changes in regards to its accounts. Although it is not yet clear what the initial share price will be, the stock will be highly sought after thanks to Roblox's lucrative year and its incredible popularity.
Roblox is set to switch its strategy to focus on expanding its audience to older players in the future. According to GamesIndustry.biz, the Roblox Corporation will attempt to entice more experienced users to its platform. During a recent investor day briefing, chief business officer Craig Donato explains the company's new plan, which will involve "enabling developers to build more polished experiences that will appeal to a wider range of users." Donato hopes that this will help attract older gamers who expect higher quality games compared to younger players. The investor day also highlighted the growth that Roblox has already had, with almost half of the title's daily active users being older than 13.
At the end of 2020, Roblox demonstrated just how popular the service is with a digital concert. Rapper Lil Nas X performed four sets across three days in November, drawing in a total of 33 million viewers for his 10-minute performances. This smashed the record previously held by Fortnite, with the Travis Scott live show only attracting an audience of 27 million.
Roblox has been going from strength to strength over the last 12 months. It is now one of the most widely played games in the world and has slowly been expanding its demographic to include more older players. It makes sense that the developer would want to increase the age of its userbase, as older gamers generally have more money to spend, potentially increasing the revenue that Roblox can make.
Roblox is available on Xbox One, PC, iOS, and Android.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz