The name Roblox has come into circulation, on hearing the first time you realize that more and more people are talking about it and perhaps they were already talking about it, who knows for how long, only you didn’t catch: “Roblox, maybe a new construction game for children?” . And you passed on. But the tide is rising, with the recent listing on the stock market this strange word has also appeared in some authoritative newspapers, instead of in the usual schizophrenic and colorful Youtube channels frequented by beardless people, where it has been increasingly the protagonist for some time. The news of the rest could not help but make noise: Roblox goes on the stock exchange and is worth more than Ubisoft and Take-Two, that of Gtav and other dozens of very rich intellectual properties.
Not a game, but a “toolbox”
A project that started from afar, timidly appeared on the net in 2004 and from that moment began its slow, very slow climb towards popularity. A story heard too many times that becomes more interesting when you realize that Roblox is not like Fortnite, Minecraft, it is not even a game in the strict sense. Roblox is above all a very simple “toolbox” that allows you to create games, interactive experiences and virtual hangouts for a few close friends or for the whole world. To play the experiences created by others with Roblox, you need Roblox of course. But here’s the cool part: You can sign up as a content creator and start monetizing in somewhat devilish ways. The transactions take place through the Robux digital currency (with 20 euros you take home 1,700), and hear this: of each transaction in Roblox goes 80% and the little that remains, taxed, to the creator of the content.
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The abc of programming
Here you can sell everything, but only a select few can donate their creations. Within your world or game you can price t-shirts, hats, one-piece swimsuits, jetpacks that allow you to jump over a treacherous crevasse, solutions to too difficult puzzles, emoticons and so on. From a certain point of view, Roblox also has actually positive implications: it is not unlikely to see those who try their hand at the creations of others, decide sooner or later to try to create something for themselves, approaching what in its hyper simplified version is still programming. . In addition, Roblox also teaches to monetize, to find new tricks, even sneaky and treacherous, to push users to come up with what basically resembles the token in the old arcades, but more expensive. And as in the arcades of the past, admission is free.
How to get started
Roblox is free to download and you can spend hours and hours inside it without spending anything, but risking a thousand times to do it by mistake. Roblox’s success was slow in coming because it is largely triggered by the content creators of Twitch and Youtube, figures who simply did not exist in their final form of influencers in 2004. Thanks to its social multiplayer nature, and the possibility of trying thousands of different experiences, sometimes even well thought out, Roblox is a perfect product to bring to live and with which to interact with your audience. With rules that seem to pave the way for future millionaire partnerships, such as Fortnite but potentially better than Fortnite, Roblox’s path seems to have been mapped out for some time.
Towards “branding”
Imagine branded worlds, sweepstakes, concert stages and everything we have already seen in Second Life, now simpler and more colorful, but above all with a plan to make money. Imagine, yes, because at the moment the Roblox Corporation has not yet managed to close a single year in profit; the losses recorded in 2020, of over 253 million dollars, however, are the result of various investments to ensure that the plan goes to the next step: the landing in China, through the ubiquitous Tencent, and the attempt to conquer an audience more adult than he currently pours into the game. Roblox is a bet that comes alive. It will be the market, as always, to decide whether or not its probable, but not so certain, success.