Roblox has been an immense success over the last few years, but it has not always known such booming success. Founded by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in 2006, the platform allows gamers to create and play games created by both themselves and other players. Roblox only started to become a recognizable game platform around 2015, which was amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. But what makes this platform so special? Upon a first look at the platform, you can see it has a very simple interface and gaming does not always go smoothly, with some lags, glitches and other bugs. Still, it is one of the most visited gaming platforms today. It even became the second highest-grossing iOS game on the market in 2020 as a free gaming platform. The success of Roblox was unexpected and is not only seen in the numbers, but also in the many inspiring cases and research done by members of the Future Media Hubs network. Media companies such as Yle, BBC, VRT, DR, and DW decided to see what Roblox could mean for them when it comes to engaging with younger audiences. Therefore, in this article we explore Roblox’s success, taking a deep dive into the cases and an interviewing Wesa Aapro, Metaverse Lead at Yle, the Finnish public broadcaster. Engaging with younger audiences is not a simple task. It’s a diverse group with a wide variety of interests that grew up, and will continue to grow up, in a rapidly changing media landscape. The younger generations do not engage as much with traditional media and this is only expected to keep declining in the future. Youngsters are more active on social networks such as Instagram and TikTok. Still, Roblox manages to cater to younger audiences and continues to do so: 50% of players are younger than 13 years, while 75% of players are younger than 18. According to DW Lab, which researched metaverses and their potential, there are over 214 million monthly active users, a daily average of 70.2 million according to DW Lab’s research from December 2023. This is a crucial criterion to take into account for media companies when wanting to work on an external platform. DR has been exploring Roblox’s potential in Denmark and the numbers are just as promising! They have been studying the increasing popularity of Roblox over the last three years. In their latest Kids & Gaming Survey, Roblox was the preferred gaming platform for the 4-15 year-olds and 65% of all Danish kids aged 9-11 had played Roblox in the previous week. Games in general, besides Roblox, are recognizably increasing in popularity with younger audiences. The only difference is that Roblox is equally popular with girls and boys. “If you want to reach kids through gaming, Roblox is a no-brainer.” Katrine Granholm, Digital redactor at DR Why is Roblox so successful? Generation Alpha, mostly found on Roblox, is turning 14 this year. Roblox is their main platform to hang out and although TikTok and Netflix are bigger platforms, Roblox is the platform that defines this generation. But why? These are the 7 reasons we found: 1. Easy access Firstly, Roblox is compatible with Microsoft Windows, Android, Amazon iOS, PlayStation and Xbox Consoles. This means that any device with one of these systems and a stable network connection allows you to play on the platform. The easy accessibility to the Roblox platform on almost all devices makes it easier for children to play the game. The younger generation tends to stick to platforms and devices they know instead of reaching out to new platforms or devices to try out new content. Because of the accessibility and the presence of the younger generation on the platform, it is also easier for media companies to work with Roblox to create gaming experiences for their target audience. 2. It’s free! Roblox is most importantly a free platform. People can open an account and play or create different games without having to pay a fee. This is surprising seeing that Roblox has such a high grossing rate. So how does Roblox generate income? Users can get a Roblox Premium Membership, which allows them to sell, buy, or trade limited edition items on the platform. These items have a Recent Average Price (RAP), and their value varies based on demand and rarity. On top of that, users can buy Robux. Robux is the official Roblox currency which can be used to buy in-game items, such as clothing and accessories. It’s so popular that many children even ask for Robux as a birthday present instead of something physical. BBC uses Roblox to engage with younger audiences by creating an immersive experience on Roblox called 'Wonder Chase’. Targeting 9 – 14 year olds, the project integrates well-known BBC children's and family brands with game mechanics and influencer marketing to attract users. By allowing users to bring their avatars and enjoy diverse content, BBC adopts a gameplay-first approach. The free Roblox platform allows everyone to participate in the experiences. 3. Unity in diversity The clothing and accessories in Roblox allow the player's diversity to shine through. According to Wesa Aapro, beauty is not the defining metric in Roblox like it is in other media. Young children get to express themselves regardless of gender and sexuality which will influence them in their adult life and make them more open-minded. “Roblox is more than just a gaming platform, it’s a community” Wesa Aapro, Metaverse Lead at Yle Besides the diversity of players on the platform, the number of games in different themes and story worlds is huge. There are millions of games (or 'experiences’ as Roblox calls them) available on the platform and there is only more to come. Players can create their own worlds with their own minigames for others to play. This has an enormous impact on the creativity and diversity present on the platform. On top of that, you don’t have to be a professional to create experiences in Roblox. Wesa confirms that although you do need to know the basics and be familiar with the platform, you don’t have to be an experienced game developer to create your own experiences. This makes the platform also attractive to work with for media companies as it is not a too costly project and is more feasible for small departments. A case we want to highlight is VRT's 'Ketnet Kermis', a branded Roblox world in collaboration with Ketnet, VRT's children's channel, and De Warmste Week, an annual charity event. The game, designed for children aged 6-12, allows players to move around and play minigames, such as their easter edition: an egg hunt! The Ketnet Kermis attracted 35.000 visitors, with 55% of the players being girls and with high engagement from children under 13 years old. The average playtime is nine minutes, with players accessing the game via tablets, phones, PCs, and consoles, showing Roblox's accessibility across various devices. Looking ahead, VRT plans to enhance the game by updating mini-games, adding seasonal features, expanding the game space and improving mobile experiences. This also shows the diversity in Roblox, allowing creators to make seasonal changes for example. 4. Themed experiences The opportunity to create your own experiences and to give it a theme also adds to Roblox’s success. Fanbases can create IP-based worlds and invite other fans to play in them. This allows the fanbase to generate new content and gamify their favourite story worlds, for example, Harry Potter or Peppa Pig. However, it is important to mention that these should be created in a legal way, which is not always the case. These themed experiences create a good opportunity for media companies to design IP-based experiences based on their content in order to market it. Also in Finland Roblox showcases its big success. The Finnish Independence Day is the most watched live broadcast, being watched by 2.5 million people every year, but it doesn’t quite reach the younger generations yet. This brought Wesa Aapro and Miika Jalonen, Digital Media Producer at Yle, to an idea. Why not build this event in Roblox? With a small budget, they recreated the presidential castle and promoted the event only through a WhatsApp visual. With the expectation of only a handful of people showing up, Yle couldn’t’ have been more wrong. No less than 23.000 visitors showed up the minute the Roblox world opened its doors! Video file So, to what do they own the success? “We don’t know, it might have just been luck”, Wesa answers. But the event was a success nevertheless, with people showing up via different consoles and from various ages, mostly younger than 13, all showing immense creativity. “It was amazing to see how they just started making a line and shaking each other’s hands, just like the real-world event”. Visitors even showed up in special attires that they’ve created or bought themselves. This success case shows that there might be a need for media companies to be present on Roblox. And that’s exactly what Yle did: they hosted another event during the summer of 2023 called ‘School’s Out Party’. During this party, over 10.000 joined the experience to celebrate the end of the school year. This event had lots of fun activities, such as meet and greets with radio makers, dancing, dressing up, and a concert by a popular Finnish performer, and was promoted on social media platforms. The music event, where the artist would perform a song and fireworks would pop, happened every half hour for 24 hours . Although this event had fewer visitors than the previous one, Yle was happy to host the event for children who wanted to spend their time on Roblox, while others might have been able to go meet up with friends. And that's not where Yle's story ends. The 2023 Finnish Independence Day event in Roblox was even bigger, with a virtual meet-up to celebrate the event and a game hunt created in collaboration with the Finnish National Gallery. This time carefully planned and produced by Miika, with a team bigger than only a handful, Yle created a new experience and with immense success! Over 100.000 visitors showed up to the event to participate in the art hunt! During the hunt, people had to search for missing artworks and return them to the gallery, 5.400 people ended up completing the hunt, which was a big commitment. The event even became so popular that when posed with the question “What does Independence mean to you?”, someone answered: “Roblox in the presidential palace!”. And the story doesn’t end there, because this event was granted the Award of Excellence in experimental design by the Society of News Design! Want to have a look at their experience: Karhu kättelee vieraita virtuaalisessa Presidentinlinnassa – näin osallistut Linnan juhliin Robloxissa itsenäisyyspäivänä – Linnan juhlat – yle.fi Video file 5. A Global Community For many players, Roblox is a way of staying in touch with their friends. The platform allows you to play with each other while staying in touch through the chat function. The chat function makes it easy to stay in touch while gaming and allows players to invite new people, create big groups and to change groups whenever they feel like it. The interaction possibilities are what make this platform stand out to children compared to legacy media organisations. “Roblox is more than entertainment, it’s a place to hang out with friends.” Wesa Aapro, Metaverse Lead at Yle Regardless of the diversity in age and personality on the platform, the Roblox community is very positive and welcoming. This is also part of Roblox’s mission, which is connecting people with optimism and civility. The community is filled with people wanting to play games, hang out and express themselves. Aside from a few trolls, which you will have in any multi-player game, people are there to enjoy the gameplay and connect with their friends online. Roblox is a game targeted towards children and is therefore a suitable platform for children, which is why they probably reach their target audience so successfully. They emphasize respect and community, which aligns with creating a positive environment. As many players on the platform are children, they have similar ways of communicating and will mostly not create an unsafe space. 6. Made For Children With a mission to connect a billion people with optimism and civility, Roblox has a large, expertly trained team with thousands of members dedicated to protecting users and monitoring 24/7 for inappropriate content, usually flagging anything against guidelines within minutes. And with parental control settings, Roblox tries to be a safe space where parents can limit chat conversations to a selection of people or turn them off completely. Besides the Roblox guidelines, media companies still remain responsible for guaranteeing the safety of their user. It is therefore recommended to take more precautions when hosting a Roblox world and to monitor the project live with in-game hosts. This is exactly what Yle did during their different Roblox events: shadow-banning trolls. For their latest edition of the ‘Independence Day’ event, Yle even partnered with Netari, the biggest web youth center in Finland, who helped co-moderate the event to provide safety. Although it is possible to monitor events live, it is a challenge, especially if you have an unexpected amount of visitors. Another precaution Yle took to make the space safer was disabling the chat functionality. If visitors wanted to chat with their friends, they could still use other means such as WhatsApp and Discord. 7. An Honest Creator Economy Roblox offers several ways for creators to earn income on their platform. It allows players to create new experiences and is thus filled with user-generated content. Creators can develop experiences like games and virtual worlds, earning a share of the revenue from in-game purchases and interactions. They receive a portion of the Robux spent on items, game passes, and other in-game features within their experiences. On average 75% of the generated income for the experience goes to the creator. Engagement-based payouts reward creators based on the impressions their experiences generate. Additionally, creators can integrate immersive ads into their games, earning revenue based on user engagement with those ads. They can also create, sell and resell avatar items such as clothing, accessories, and animations, earning a share of the sales. Roblox actively supports its creator community, aiming to increase earnings and foster healthy growth, encouraging creators to keep building content for the Roblox platform. This also gives media companies the ability to monetize the experiences they create on Roblox. Conclusion The success of Roblox is nothing new. However, understanding why a free, simple and sometimes even lagging gaming platform knows such success can be more of a challenge. When visiting and engaging with Roblox experiences, it quickly becomes clear why children enjoy this as a way to spend their free time. They engage with many people, get to express themselves freely, participate in gaming experiences based on their favourite IP, play on whichever device they want, create content and be part of a positive community in a moderated space. For media companies, Roblox offers many opportunities to engage with younger audiences by using the platform's success and the presence of the younger generations. Because of Roblox’s international success, media companies can search out to collaborate with other companies to work together on bigger projects if they wish to experiment with the platform. It’s a good way to take a first step into the Roblox metaverse. “Roblox has something magical about it that connects this generation.” Wesa Aapro, Metaverse Lead at Yle
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