Roblox Becomes Playground for Adults in Their 20s and 30s... Speeds Up Platform Overhaul as Big Tech Closes In

MAU among South Korean users in their 20s up 41.3% in a year
Roblox enhances services amid competition from Google, Unity and others

Roblox, the metaverse platform once considered the exclusive domain of elementary school students, has recently surged in popularity as a new digital playground for adults in their 20s and 30s. Facing competition from a coalition of global tech giants, the company is accelerating efforts to reshape the platform for users of all ages, including by announcing a major update.

Provided by Roblox

According to Wiseapp·Retail, an app and payment data analytics firm, Roblox had 1,278,789 monthly active users (MAU) in their 20s in South Korea in September this year, up 41.3% from 904,880 in the same month last year. By contrast, the number of users aged 19 and under, once the platform's core user base, edged down 3.4% over the same period, from 2,483,594 to 2,399,746.

Industry observers attribute the influx of adult users to the social media meme craze. Recently, videos on major social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram showing people in their 20s and 30s enjoying clubs, saunas and virtual shopping in Roblox have become popular, drawing millions of views. Unlike traditional blockbuster games, which can be highly competitive and exhausting, casual social content that users can easily access after work to unwind from everyday stress has won over office workers, observers say.

Alongside the external factor of memes, Roblox's strategy of targeting adults has also played a role. In 2023, Roblox introduced an age-restricted content category for users aged 17 and older, with age verification, to boost profitability and attract corporate advertising. Early this year, it revised the rules to make the category exclusive to users aged 18 and older, allowing the creation of maps tailored to adults. The company has been putting institutional and technical measures in place to help adult users settle into the platform.

As Roblox overhauls its platform, competition in the market is intensifying. Google and game engine company Unity Software recently joined forces to launch a new AI-powered game creation platform, emerging as formidable competitors. The advent of AI tools that can generate content from text prompts without coding poses a threat to Roblox, which has grown on the strength of user-generated content (UGC). Epic Games, which is also vying for a share of the UGC ecosystem, is continuing its push. Since Epic Games introduced a direct in-game item sales and payment system in Fortnite in January this year, professional developers seeking higher earnings have been moving to the Fortnite ecosystem.

In response, Roblox has announced a major platform update aimed at increasing the time users spend on the platform and maximizing immersion. Under the roadmap unveiled at last month's annual Roblox Developers Conference (RDC), the company plans to introduce technology by the end of this year that lets users launch experiences with one click in a web browser, without a separate app. Next year, it plans to roll out advanced terrain tools and an "offline mode" that allows users to play without an internet connection. It also plans to introduce high-quality, seamless voice calls between games in successive updates and further enhance its services to prevent existing users from leaving.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.