2023 was a huge year for Roblox and its community of game developers. According to a company filing, the 18-year-old sandbox title paid out $741 million to creators during the most recent calendar year, with 100 different games each bringing in at least $1 million in sales.
Game designers use Roblox to build interactive experiences for the platform’s 68 million daily active users, the majority of whom are 16 years old or younger. The projects built in Roblox use the in-game Robux currency to generate sales; Robux can then be exchanged for real-world currency. According to Bloomberg, the exchange rate from Robux to U.S. dollars is about 285-to-1.
Though past investigations have asked whether Roblox exploits its community of game-building minors, the amount of money paid out to the platform’s creators has been steadily increasing. Earlier this year, Roblox revamped its Creator Marketplace so that creators could take home 100% of the earnings from assets like models and plugins.
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The $741 million payout sum is 19% higher than the equivalent figure from 2022. As indicated in the filing, 12,000 developers exchanged Robux for real-world currency in 2023. About 3,500 of those devs earned at least $10,000, approximately 750 of them crossed the $100,000 mark, and a lucky hundred became millionaires thanks to their Roblox creations. Nine developers took their earnings one digit further by pulling in at least $10 million in yearly sales.
Those developers are racking up a high bill for Roblox, but as the platform approaches its second decade, it is becoming an enticing target for brands that wish to access the metaverse and reach the young audience that hangs out in Roblox worlds. Everyone from Hilton to Lionsgate has launched branded Roblox experiences, and high-profile creators like Karl Jacobs and KreekCraft are getting in on the fun, too.
So what will 2024 bring for the Roblox community? If the company’s filing is any indication, we can expect more consolidation. In 2023, 30% of Roblox play time went to the platform’s ten most-popular games.
