(Bloomberg/Cecilia D’Anastasio) — Roblox Corp., the popular video-game platform, reported a larger-than-expected jump in active users for the first quarter, benefiting from efforts to attract new players and keep them using the service longer.
Daily active users rose 26% to 97.8 million in the three months ended March 31, the San Mateo, California-based company said in a statement Thursday. That compared with the 93.3 million average of analysts’ estimates. The company finished 2024 with 85.3 million active users. The shares rose 3.9% as trading got underway in New York.
“Investments in the virtual economy and search and discovery are driving growth in platform monetization, bookings, and creator earnings,” Chief Executive Officer David Baszucki said in the statement. “During the quarter, Roblox creators earned a record $281.6 million and over the past 12 months, more than 100 Roblox developers earned over $1 million. As a whole, the community is on pace to exceed $1 billion of earnings for the full year.”
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While traditionally a platform for kids under age 13, the company has attempted in recent years to retain users as they grow up and attract more young adults. Roblox users over 13 increased by 36% in the quarter from a year earlier, the company reported Thursday.
Roblox has made efforts to provide a diversity of content on its home page and better ways for players to find new and different games, including by using artificial intelligence in discovery algorithms. Baszucki said Roblox is focusing specifically on three genres of gaming — role-playing games, sports and racing, and shooters. Spending in these target genres increased 69% in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of 2024. Baszucki said Roblox is aiming to capture 10% of the $180 billion gaming market eventually. It has about 3% of the market currently, Chief Financial Officer Michael Guthrie said on a call with analysts.
The company also has been pushing to generate more revenue from its users, including through advertising. In April, Roblox partnered with Alphabet Inc.’s Google to offer ads that encourage player engagement. Baszucki said Roblox is seeing more licensing deals, such as with a NASCAR Tycoon game, a PGA Tour Ultimate Golf Simulator and with the German soccer league Bundesliga. Shopping is also an important aspect of capturing a bigger share of the gaming market, Baszucki said, as virtual interest leads to real-life purchases.
Roblox hasn’t yet broken out details of how much revenue it’s generating from advertising. Guthrie said the company is waiting until “we feel the number is big enough that it really moves the needle.”
Bookings, a gauge of revenue, rose 31% to $1.21 billion in the period. Analysts had expected $1.11 billion. For the current quarter, Roblox forecasts bookings of $1.17 billion to $1.19 billion. That’s ahead of the $1.14 billion forecast by Wall Street.
While many companies have expressed uncertainty about their business going forward under the new US trade tariffs, Baszucki said Roblox was protected from market turbulence because it doesn’t import physical goods, and it’s not likely to be impacted by a contraction in consumer spending either.
“The majority of people on our platform don’t spend money,” Baszucki said. And for those that do, it’s a small amount. “These aren’t cars and houses and vacation homes.”
Roblox raised its full-year guidance for bookings to $5.29 billion to $5.36 billion, and for revenue of $4.29 billion to $4.37 billion.
The company has faced criticism that it isn’t doing enough to keep predators from connecting with its young players online. In April, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a subpoena to Roblox, seeking information about “how this platform is marketing to children and to see what policies they are implementing — if any — to avoid interactions with predators,” according to a statement from his office.
Baszucki said Roblox is focusing on controlling costs associated with infrastructure and content moderation, while improving quality on the site. AI is a key component of that, he said.
Last year, the company introduced new rules including preventing kids under 13 from accessing games designed just for socializing.
(Updates with comments from the analyst call and shares.)
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