Roblox Wants To Let Creators Import Any PC, Console Or Mobile Game — In 'A Day'
CEO David Baszucki laid out an AI-assisted "universal player" and app-store publishing plan aimed at adult gamers, with a 20% share of US under-18 revenue as the model.
Roblox is building an AI-supported system that would let creators bring "literally any existing PC, console, or mobile game directly onto the platform," co-founder and CEO David Baszucki said on the company's third-quarter earnings call Thursday. The push is aimed at players 18 and older, and Roblox said bookings came in above the high end of its guidance.
The universal player pitch
Roblox runs an online platform where people play and build 3D games that others can join, and it takes a cut of every Robux transaction, the in-game currency. Baszucki said he wants to repeat with adults the success it has had with minors: Roblox estimates about 20% of US under-18 market revenue is already on its app.
Imported games would get what Baszucki calls "Robloxification": multiplayer, instant joins through 3D streaming instead of a download, and the ability to run on low-end two-gig Android phones as well as high-end PCs. He said creators could get an existing game running "in a matter of days rather than weeks."
Told by an Oppenheimer analyst's question about Roblox's role in connecting studios, Baszucki said the goal is for major studios to bring games over "not in months, but in a day." He said Roblox will offer self-serve tools for IP holders and creators, and its developer-relations team is talking directly with many major studios.
The licensing question
A Jefferies analyst asked whether Roblox would need licenses from the owners of the games being ported. Baszucki said Roblox respects IP and takedown requests and wants licensed IP on the platform, but did not say licenses would be required for every port.
Roblox Everywhere and the adult push
Baszucki also described Roblox Everywhere, which he estimated will launch in the first half of 2027. In phase one, Roblox would curate and publish select top titles as standalone apps in major app stores; in phase two, any creator could generate a standalone app and submit it on their own. Early access to Roblox Reality, a generative-video world model effort, is also scheduled for that period.
He said US daily users aged 18 and up are growing 18% year on year and that they monetize 50% or more than under-18 users. Total daily active users hit 138 million in the quarter, up 12% from the second quarter.
Guidance and the stock
Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra guided fourth-quarter bookings to fall 10% to 15% year over year, including a modest headwind from the release of Grand Theft Auto, and said Roblox plans higher infrastructure and marketing spending for AI work and adult users. Coverage said shares tumbled on the weak outlook. Roblox's market value was $38.1 billion in the report.
Baszucki also invited listeners to watch the Jonas Brothers appear inside the hit game Steel and Egg on Halloween morning at 11 a.m. Eastern.
Sources
- Roblox shares tumble as weak bookings outlook disappoints (RBLX:NYSE) | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
- Roblox (RBLX) Stock May Be 27% Undervalued Despite Weak Bookings — Yahoo Finance
- Roblox GAAP EPS of -$0.32 beats by $0.10, bookings of $1.7B beats by $80M (RBLX:NYSE) — seekingalpha.com
- RBLX Stock Price — MarketWatch
- Roblox (RBLX) Q3 Earnings Preview: What You Should Know Beyond the Headline Estimates — Yahoo Finance
