Roblox

Roblox
Developer(s) Roblox Corporation
Publisher(s) Roblox Corporation
Director(s) David Baszucki
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Xbox One, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive
Release August 27, 2006
Genre(s) Game engine, Massive multiplayer online
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Roblox is a massively multiplayer online game creation platform that allows users to design their own games and play a wide variety of different types of games created by other users through Roblox Studio. The platform hosts social network games constructed of Lego-like virtual blocks.[1] The platform was officially released on August 27, 2006 by the Roblox Corporation.[2] As of September 2018, Roblox has 70 million monthly active users.[3]

Overview

Roblox Studio

Roblox is a game creation platform which allows players to create their own games using its proprietary engine, Roblox Studio. Games are coded under a object oriented programming system utilizing the programming language Lua to manipulate the environment of the game.[4][5] Users are able to create game passes, which are purchasable content through one-time purchases, as well as microtransactions through developer products. Developers on the site exchange Robux earned from various products on their games into real world currency through the Developer Exchange system.[6] A percentage of the revenue from purchases is split between the developer and Roblox.[7][8] Roblox Studio supports importing meshes,[9] shadow mapping,[10] parallax mapping, and screen post-processing effects.[11]

Games created through Roblox Studio are hosted through Roblox’s proprietary cloud software for server hosting and matchmaking.

Players

Roblox allows players to buy, sell, and create virtual items. Clothes can be bought by anyone but only players with a Builders Club membership can sell them.[12] Only Roblox administrators can sell accessories, body parts, gear, and packages under the official Roblox user account.[13] Items with a limited status can only be sold on the catalog or traded with Builders Club.[14]

Robux is the virtual currency that can allow a player to buy various items. Players can obtain Robux through real life purchases, another player buying their items, or from earning daily Robux with a membership.[7][15]

Groups

Groups allow users to group up with other users similar to a guild-like system. Group leaders can advertise their group, participate in group relations, shout out to other members of the group, and manage the roles of other group members. Groups can only be created by Builders Club members, but ownership of groups persists if they lose their membership.

Groups function as ways for players to organize various types of communities and teams. They can publish their own assets such as clothing and games, which funds earned go towards group funds. Those funds can be used to run advertisements for the group or games under the group's name, and can be distributed among the members through the group's payout system. Groups also have a clan feature. Clans can only have a limited number of users per group.

Events

Roblox occasionally hosts real life and virtual events. One such event is their Developers Conference.[16] They hold virtual Easter egg hunt events annually and previously hosted events such as BloxCon.[7] Other virtual events are sales that commonly occur in America, such as Black Friday,[17] Memorial Day,[18] and Labor Day.[19]

Development

The beta version of Roblox was created by co-founders David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004.[20][21] Baszucki started testing the first demos that year.[22] The website became available for PCs in 2005.

In March 2007, Roblox became compliant with COPPA, with the addition of safe chat, a change that limited users under the age of thirteen to communicating by selecting predefined messages from a menu.[23] In August 2007, Roblox added Builders Club, a premium membership, and applied server improvements.[24]

In December 2011, Roblox held their first Hack Week, an annual event where Roblox developers work on innovative outside-the-box ideas for new developments to present to the company.[25][26]

On December 11, 2012, Roblox released an iOS version of the game platform.[27]

On October 1st, 2013, Roblox released the Developer Exchange system, allowing developers to exchange Robux earned from their games into real world currency.[28][29]

On May 31, 2015, a feature called 'Smooth Terrain' was added, increasing the graphical fidelity of the terrain and changing the physics engine from a block-oriented style to a smoother and more realistic style.[30] On November 20, 2015, Roblox was launched on Xbox One, with an initial selection of 15 games chosen by Roblox staff.[31] New Roblox games for this console will have to go through an approval process, and are subject to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board standards.[32]

In April 2016, Roblox launched Roblox VR for Oculus Rift. At the time of release, more than ten million games were available in 3-D.[33] Also by this time, Roblox had 30 million monthly active users, and a peak of 900,000 concurrent users.[34] Around the same time period, the safe chat feature was removed and replaced by a system based on a whitelist with a set of acceptable words for users under 13 years old and on a blacklist for other users.[35]

In June 2016, the company launched a version compatible with Windows 10. While the game platform has had a PC presence since 2004 with its web version, this is the first time it was upgraded with a standalone launcher built for Windows.[36]

Legacy

During the 2017 Roblox Developers Conference, officials said that creators on the game platform (about 1.7 million)[37] collectively earned at least $30 million in 2017.[16] A developer covered his undergraduate education at Duke University using funds from his creation.[38]

Toy line

In January 2017, Jazwares, a toy fabricator, teamed up with the Roblox Corporation to produce toy minifigures based on user generated content created by large developers on the platform.[39] The toys were announced on Roblox's blog in February.[40] The minifigures had limbs and joints similar to that of Lego minifigures. The minifigures also had limbs and accessories that are interchangeable. The first series contained 40 minifigures in all, being sold in sets of three or six, or individual minifigures. All of these sets included a code that could be used to redeem virtual items. In August, Roblox announced the second series of minifigures, introducing 40 more minifigures of characters from popular games on the platform, along with the online avatars of popular developers. There are also blind boxes that contain random minifigures and have a chance to contain a mystery figure.[41]

Awards and recognition

Roblox has received the following accolades:

References

  1. ↑ Needleman, Rafe (June 14, 2011). "Roblox: A virtual world of Lego-like blocks". CNET. Archived from the original on January 29, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Happy 12th Birthday, Roblox!". Roblox Blog. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Kids' gaming platform Roblox raises $150M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  4. ↑ "The best Roblox games". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Roblox Wiki - Scripting". Roblox Wiki. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  6. ↑ "How to make money with DevEx on Roblox". Softtonic Editorial Team. Softtonic. Archived from the original on April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Fennimore, Jack (July 12, 2017). "Roblox: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Roblox Unearths $92 Million to Challenge Microsoft's Minecraft". Bloomberg.com. March 14, 2017. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Mesh Parts". Roblox Wiki. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Lights On: Dynamic Lighting and Shadows are Here". Roblox Blog. Archived from the original on January 29, 2017.
  11. ↑ "A Whole New World: ROBLOX Adds Post-Effects and Anti-Aliasing". Roblox Blog. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Roblox: Everything you need to know to keep your child safe". Metro. July 17, 2017. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Roblox lets users build their own virtual world". www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Roblox 101: Getting Started With ROBUX and The Builders Club - Geek.com". Geek.com. December 15, 2017. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Roblox 101: How To Avoid Free Robux Scams - Geek.com". Geek.com. December 8, 2017. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  16. 1 2 "Hobbyist developers will make $30 million via 'Roblox' this year". Engadget. Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Black Friday Sale!". Roblox Blog. November 21, 2017. Archived from the original on June 2, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Memorial Day Sale". Roblox Blog. May 26, 2017. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Labor Day Sale". Roblox Blog. August 31, 2017. Archived from the original on June 2, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Roblox Info on BusinessWeek". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  21. ↑ "In Memory of Erik Cassel". Roblox Blog. February 12, 2013. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  22. ↑ Neil C., Hughes (July 15, 2016). "How This User-Generated Video Game Is Leading The Way With Innovation and VR". Inc. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  23. ↑ Dickson, Jeremy (June 23, 2015). "SuperAwesome and Roblox join forces on kid-safe advertising". kidscreen. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017.
  24. ↑ LaRouche, Brandon (March 31, 2012). Basic ROBLOX Lua Programming. Double Trouble Studio. p. 237. ISBN 9780985451301.
  25. ↑ Milian, Mark (December 2, 2012). "Hackathons move beyond Silicon Valley". SFGate. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  26. ↑ Chaykowski, Kathleen (August 31, 2012). "Lua language helps kids create software". SFGate. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  27. ↑ Grubb, Jeffrey (December 12, 2012). "Roblox goes mobile in time for the holidays". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Introducing Developer Central and the Developer Exchange". Roblox Blog. Archived from the original on December 25, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  29. ↑ Grubb, Jeff. "Roblox is gaming's quiet giant — and it's only getting bigger". VentureBeat. VentureBeat. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Roblox user-generated world moves from blocky terrain to smooth 3D". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  31. ↑ Grubb, Jeff (September 24, 2015). "Roblox comes to Xbox One, joins Minecraft in the growing player-made content space on consoles". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017.
  32. ↑ Grubb, Jeff (January 27, 2016). "Roblox launches on Xbox One with 15 player-created games — watch us play them". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017.
  33. ↑ Gaudiosi, John (April 15, 2016). "This Company Just Introduced 20 Million People to Oculus Rift". Fortune. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  34. ↑ Takahasi, Dean (December 20, 2016). "At 10, Roblox surpasses 30 million monthly users and 300 million hours of engagement". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Roblox". Australian Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  36. ↑ Grubb, Jeff (June 10, 2016). "After Xbox One success, Roblox now has a dedicated Windows 10 app". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017.
  37. ↑ "This game turned players into $50,000-a-month entrepreneurs — now it has a plan to help them make $1.68 million a year". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  38. ↑ "A video game you've never heard of has turned three teens into multimillionaires — and it's just getting started". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  39. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (January 10, 2017). "Roblox launches toys based on its user-generated games". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  40. ↑ Baszucki, David. "Introducing Roblox Toys". Roblox Blog. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  41. ↑ Fennimore, Jack (August 25, 2017). "Roblox Toys Wave 2 Hits Store Shelves This August". Heavy. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  42. ↑ "The Complete Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest-Growing Companies". Inc. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  43. ↑ "Business Innovators Honored". Bay Meadows. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  44. ↑ "2017 Technology Fast 500 award winners". Deloitte United States. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  45. ↑ Procter, Richard (May 17, 2017). "Roblox lets users build their own virtual world". The Business Journals. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
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