Check out Part 2: A Parent’s Guide
You often hear about MMOs being referred as “another world,” or “another life,” or even a “second life.” We’ve referred to games as virtual themeparks, virtual sandboxes, and any hybrid of the two. It isn’t often, however, that we hear a game referred to as a “virtual toy box,” and those three words sum up Roblox with incredible accuracy. Odds are you’ve heard of , perhaps even played it at one point, and if you are in the game’s demographic, you may be playing it right now. After all, Roblox is ranked #1 in the US for total engagement time.
Roblox is a game where players can mould their own worlds and games and then allow others to play in their creations. At one moment you can be playing a game of paintball (above) and the next, Spongebob could be chasing you through Bikini Bottom, gaining experience to unlock new classes in a Call of Duty style massive battleground, or even raiding dungeons like Indiana Jones.
I had an opportunity to have a chat with the Roblox developers, and we discussed some of the finer points of Roblox.
How popular is ROBLOX? What kind of demographic does the game attract?
Roblox sees nearly 10 million unique visits per month. About 80% of our viewers fall into the 8-16 year old age bracket, and roughly 85% of our users are male. At this time, one of our fastest growing age segments is 14+ males.
The gentleman I spoke with from Roblox Corp. explained that Roblox is more in tune with games like Little Big Planet or Minecraft, where players are given the tools to build, rather than a few sets of pre-built options, and are allowed to let their imaginations go wild. I inquired as to how well ROBLOX would relate to Lego Universe, and his response was positive:
What would be astonishing to the Lego Universe player is that, in ROBLOX, the entire game is built by players. Whereas Lego Universe incorporates building as a side mechanic to the game, ROBLOX puts user-generated content front and center. Roblox users build their games themselves, then invite friends and promote their games on our website to keep players visiting.
I spent some time in ROBLOX and found an incredibly diverse and creative array of games created by the community. At the time of this writing, the most concurrently played game is a Call Of Duty/Battlefield style game where players fight on foot, in the sky, and in vehicles in an immense territory control battle.
So where does ROBLOX get its income? Free players view video advertisements before entering games. ROBLOX offers a subscription service in the form of the Builder’s Club, which starts at about $5.95 a month and offers more spaces to build in. In addition, builders receive a daily stipend of Robux, the game’s virtual currency that can otherwise be purchased ala carte by free players. Additionally, builders club members are able to add badges (achievements) to their areas, as well as sell merchandise for Robux to other players. Robux are used to buy virtual goods, namely clothing for your character and toys to spice up your area.
Players are able to utilize Lua scripts to customize their games, making for the diverse assortment of play areas I saw during my visit. There were definite themes, a good number of the top games were usually obstacle course and “build to survive” modes, as well as various shooters themed off of other games. There were also several role playing servers, including a rather humorous map allowing for the role play of a McDonald’s worker. Fancy living.
What really astounded me about Roblox was the community. There are a lot of very creative kids playing Roblox, and I can only describe the community as almost an unbelievable Garden of Eden where evil and vulgarity has never stepped foot. I made a lot of friends during my time spent in game, and cannot in good faith recall a single moment of players harassing each other, using vulgar language or putting each other down, and not a single accusation of cheating. On the contrary, I found myself on the receiving end of many friend requests.
Roblox is a great game for parents looking for games suitable for their kids, which I will discuss more on next week.
This is part 1 of a 3 part Roblox series, with part 2 to come next Friday, the 4th of May. Part two will be a Why Aren’t You Playing, where I take a more in-depth look at the game overall.
MMO Fallout 