Photo credit: Roblox

Roblox, one of the most popular gaming apps to ever hit the market, is looking to build on its success and get more bang for its “Bux.”

Speaking at its developer conference, Roblox Corp CEO and co-founder David Baszucki revealed the virtual world app is aiming for a 10% share of the global video-game market as it looks to grow its user numbers even further.

The company plans to achieve this, according to Baszucki, by teaming up with technology giants such as Apple, Tencent Holdings, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, with the gaming market worth roughly $180 billion in content revenue annually.

Roblox also announced a partnership with Shopify - through which users can sell physical products in its virtual world — and unveiled plans for real currency paid-for experiences alongside its in-game ‘Robux’, allowing creators to take a larger share of revenues.

Online developers have been paid more than $800 million by Roblox, according to Baszucki, and generated $2.8 billion in sales in 2023.

Roblox has shot to the top of the online gaming popularity charts, especially with youngsters, and saw a rapid increase in users during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is accessible across gaming consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation, tablets, phones, laptops, and PCs, with almost 80 million users logging in daily to play and create worlds for avatars to explore. 

The company now has a target of 300 million daily users and 10% of the gaming market in its immediate sights — with 1 billion users the long-term goal.

“When Erik Cassel and I founded Roblox in 2006, we were motivated by a question that still drives the company today: How do humans connect through play?” Baszucki said. “We’re optimistic that the technology we’re building will play a part in improving human connection.”

“The engaging experiences that make up the Roblox ecosystem bring people together. That has always been our goal. To get there, we will continue to focus on the four core growth vectors we set out at our direct listing in 2021: expanding around the world; making Roblox compelling for everyone; ensuring a broad range of use cases; and growing and improving our economy.”

He added: “On our way to 10% of gaming content revenue, we believe we will reach approximately 300 million daily active users. We believe that about 80% of those people will come to Roblox to play together, with the rest coming to shop, consume entertainment, learn, or simply communicate with one another.”