The New York Stock Exchange welcomes Roblox executives and guests to celebrate its direct listing on March 10, 2021.
NYSE
Robloxthe popular children’s gaming platform that generates billions of dollars a year in the virtual world, becomes a reality.
The company said Friday that some game developers on the platform will be able to charge users real money instead of relying on payments through Roblox’s digital currency called Robux. The change only applies to so-called paid-access games, or those that cost money to play.
The new model, announced at the company’s annual developer conference in San Jose, California, builds on the traditional video game industry, allowing developers to make money from the sale of titles and raise and lower prices based on market demand . Game creators can now more easily sell to users without having to deal with intermediary virtual currency. It’s part of the company’s ambitious plans to facilitate 10% of all global gaming content sales through the Roblox platform and reach 300 million daily active users.
The goal “is to increase the appeal of the platform to existing developers” who want more options to create and monetize their games, said Manuel Bronstein, Roblox’s Chief Product Officer.
Payments will be on a sliding scale, with higher-cost games resulting in a larger percentage of revenue for the creator.
For a game that costs $50, the creator will pocket 70% of the profits. Those costing $30 and $10 will result in payouts of 60% and 50%, respectively. Roblox users will be able to pay with their local currencies later this year from their computers, and the company plans to expand payments to other devices in the future.
While the majority of Roblox games will still be free-to-play, the company hopes the new pricing plan “creates an incentive” for developers and small game studios who “want to do something bigger” on the platform and earn bigger payouts, he said . Bronstein.
“To participate in the broader gaming market, we need to expand into all forms of the gaming market,” said Bronstein.
Roblox derives most of its revenue from the sale of Robux, which people typically use to buy virtual goods. Roblox takes a 30% cut of those sales, with the developer taking the rest.
Roblox he said In August that second quarter sales rose 31% year over year to $893.5 million, while its net loss narrowed to $207.2 million from $282.8 million a year earlier.
This isn’t the first time Roblox has experimented with incorporating real-world money. Earlier this year, the company debuted a revamped digital marketplace, now called the Creator Store, where developers can purchase certain features from other creators using real currency instead of Robux. The company’s Avatar Marketplace for buying digital goods like virtual hats still relies on the use of Robux.
Other ways Roblox is trying to diversify its business is through online advertising and by giving more users a larger menu of options for creating and selling digital goods. The company said it will soon introduce tools to help developers better price their digital products and experiment with local pricing options.
Developers will also eventually be able to sell certain physical merchandise to US users over the age of 13 through a partnership with Shopify. The company said Friday that it will begin testing in-game purchases with creators, brands and other unspecified online retailers in the fourth quarter.
Shopify said it plans a “bigger rollout” early next year.
Shares of Roblox fell nearly 3% Friday afternoon to $42.56, and are now down about 7% for the year, while the Nasdaq rose 11% in 2024. The company’s shares were flat at $43.64 $ at market close.
The stock has fallen nearly 40% since its first day of trading in 2021, when Roblox’s business was booming as kids flocked to the app during the pandemic.
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