3 ms·

This is so far out of the realm of what I do with computers that I'm not even really sure what Roblox is. I guess sort of a virtual game world? Seems crazy that

This is so far out of the realm of what I do with computers that I'm not even really sure what Roblox is. I guess sort of a virtual game world? Seems crazy that there's so much money in it.

giobox 8mo ago
It's basically a litmus test for whether you have kids or not at this point. The age at which kids become aware of Roblox from their peers is getting younger and younger in my experiences anyway. Before I had kids, I had very little idea either, and I consider myself fairly well acquainted with PC gaming.
- sayamqazi 8mo ago
  The solution is to give them a taste of better built (specifically competetive) games and they will never like roblox.
  - jiggunjer 8mo ago
    Mine rejected a Nintendo switch 2 in favor of more robux...
  - Goronmon 8mo ago
    The solution is to give them a taste of better built (specifically competetive) games and they will never like roblox. In my experience, this doesn't work. The primary reason being that most of their friends are playing Roblox and if they are consuming any content on the internet, much of it at their age is related to Roblox. Our kids have never been allowed to play, and it still comes up somewhat regularly despite all the various games and consoles they have available.
  - giobox 8mo ago
    Agree 100% with the sibling responses here. This almost never works in my experience. Kids want to play what their friends are playing - I remember feeling this way a long time ago too.
    - sayamqazi 8mo ago
      Maybe you are right and it depends on "friends". Me and my 3 other siblings have alwya liked similar gamnes (We are 7 siblings). Being the eldest I might have played a role thats why I thought that one could influence their children's gaming preference.
LoganDark 8mo ago
Roblox is a game engine and social platform. The basic idea is, you create a game in their engine, using their development tools (such as Roblox Studio), and then you market/promote the game on their website for others to play together with their friends. The game runs on their servers, and you don't have to worry about your own infra if you don't want to, in exchange for the money players spend on Robux (their virtual currency, and now the only one), which they can in turn spend on developer products and other paid items that you set up in your games. Then once you make enough Robux from player purchases, you can cash it out through a process called Developer Exchange which essentially makes you a W-2 employee of Roblox (or whatever financial partner they use, Tipalti?) The idea is that people like playing with their friends and when they can take their friends and make new friends across hundreds of thousands of games they stay for a long time and (they or their parents) make lots of purchases. The social features of Roblox are a huge part of the appeal, even though I was mostly interested in the engine.
gmueckl 8mo ago
In very simple terms, Roblox is an MMO based exclusively around user generated contents (games, items, assets...), including its own virtual currency, microtransactions, marketplaces and convertibility to/from real money. Roblox as a company takes pretty hefty cut from all transactions. There has been a silent shift in the gaming market over a long time now. Roblox is one aspect of it. Another is the absolutely massive amount of money raked in by some free to play mobile phone titles. For example, Playrix has a revenue comparable to Ubisoft, but their main products are a series of match-3 type games for phones.
- ikr678 8mo ago
  Hasnt this 'casual' games market always existed? Once upon a time Zynga/Candycrush was a behemoth on the back of facebook embedded games.
  - gmueckl 8mo ago
    Back then, the market was much, much smaller than it is today if I'm doing the math correctly. Zynga reached an early peak in the early 2010s, but multiple companies, including Zynga (at least pre-acquisition) reach bigger revenue numbers today.
    - bombcar 8mo ago
      It's so large now that most of that famous "Apple Services Revenue" is just their 30% cut of mobile game payments.
      - pqtyw 8mo ago
        I thought they included Google's payout in that category?
- globular-toast 8mo ago
  In even simpler terms it's the current "shut the kids up" tax that parents pay.
zerr 8mo ago
And how does it differ from Second Life?
- NuclearPM 8mo ago
  The main difference is there that Roblox games are fun.
- 0x3f 8mo ago
  Kids in current year like it
- kentm 8mo ago
  Second life is trying to be a metaverse in the style of snowcrash; it’s one big world. Roblox is more like Newgrounds, where you have a bunch of distinct games or experiences that you select from a menu, but skins and currency and whatnot are portable between the games.
- jayd16 8mo ago
  Easy to dev for. Runs on a potato. There are many maps and modes.

This is so far out of the realm of what I do with computers that I'm not even really sure what Roblox is. I guess sort of a virtual game world? Seems crazy that there's so much money in it.

giobox 8mo ago

It's basically a litmus test for whether you have kids or not at this point. The age at which kids become aware of Roblox from their peers is getting younger and younger in my experiences anyway. Before I had kids, I had very little idea either, and I consider myself fairly well acquainted with PC gaming.

sayamqazi 8mo ago
The solution is to give them a taste of better built (specifically competetive) games and they will never like roblox.
- jiggunjer 8mo ago
  Mine rejected a Nintendo switch 2 in favor of more robux...
- Goronmon 8mo ago
  The solution is to give them a taste of better built (specifically competetive) games and they will never like roblox. In my experience, this doesn't work. The primary reason being that most of their friends are playing Roblox and if they are consuming any content on the internet, much of it at their age is related to Roblox. Our kids have never been allowed to play, and it still comes up somewhat regularly despite all the various games and consoles they have available.
- giobox 8mo ago
  Agree 100% with the sibling responses here. This almost never works in my experience. Kids want to play what their friends are playing - I remember feeling this way a long time ago too.
  - sayamqazi 8mo ago
    Maybe you are right and it depends on "friends". Me and my 3 other siblings have alwya liked similar gamnes (We are 7 siblings). Being the eldest I might have played a role thats why I thought that one could influence their children's gaming preference.

LoganDark 8mo ago

Roblox is a game engine and social platform. The basic idea is, you create a game in their engine, using their development tools (such as Roblox Studio), and then you market/promote the game on their website for others to play together with their friends. The game runs on their servers, and you don't have to worry about your own infra if you don't want to, in exchange for the money players spend on Robux (their virtual currency, and now the only one), which they can in turn spend on developer products and other paid items that you set up in your games. Then once you make enough Robux from player purchases, you can cash it out through a process called Developer Exchange which essentially makes you a W-2 employee of Roblox (or whatever financial partner they use, Tipalti?) The idea is that people like playing with their friends and when they can take their friends and make new friends across hundreds of thousands of games they stay for a long time and (they or their parents) make lots of purchases. The social features of Roblox are a huge part of the appeal, even though I was mostly interested in the engine.

gmueckl 8mo ago

In very simple terms, Roblox is an MMO based exclusively around user generated contents (games, items, assets...), including its own virtual currency, microtransactions, marketplaces and convertibility to/from real money. Roblox as a company takes pretty hefty cut from all transactions. There has been a silent shift in the gaming market over a long time now. Roblox is one aspect of it. Another is the absolutely massive amount of money raked in by some free to play mobile phone titles. For example, Playrix has a revenue comparable to Ubisoft, but their main products are a series of match-3 type games for phones.

ikr678 8mo ago
Hasnt this 'casual' games market always existed? Once upon a time Zynga/Candycrush was a behemoth on the back of facebook embedded games.
- gmueckl 8mo ago
  Back then, the market was much, much smaller than it is today if I'm doing the math correctly. Zynga reached an early peak in the early 2010s, but multiple companies, including Zynga (at least pre-acquisition) reach bigger revenue numbers today.
  - bombcar 8mo ago
    It's so large now that most of that famous "Apple Services Revenue" is just their 30% cut of mobile game payments.
    - pqtyw 8mo ago
      I thought they included Google's payout in that category?
globular-toast 8mo ago
In even simpler terms it's the current "shut the kids up" tax that parents pay.

zerr 8mo ago

And how does it differ from Second Life?

NuclearPM 8mo ago
The main difference is there that Roblox games are fun.
0x3f 8mo ago
Kids in current year like it
kentm 8mo ago
Second life is trying to be a metaverse in the style of snowcrash; it’s one big world. Roblox is more like Newgrounds, where you have a bunch of distinct games or experiences that you select from a menu, but skins and currency and whatnot are portable between the games.
jayd16 8mo ago
Easy to dev for. Runs on a potato. There are many maps and modes.