Roblox earnings: takeaways
Roblox has reported its 2022 earnings, as well as its January 2023 numbers.
In terms of the developer ecosystem, developers earned $623.9m in 2022, up 16% from the previous year. The company's priority should be ensuring that developers on the platform, big and small, can monetise and build a business that stands on its own.
In terms of content and experiences, I believe that as long as Roblox continues to have a committed community of developers, more content will be created, leading to more hours of engagement.
The fact that Roblox has millions of loyal developers is one of the platform's most important competitive advantages.
They continue to push its technology forward and have announced plans to integrate generative AI in its game engine and development platform, which will help make virtual worlds on Roblox even more customizable.
In terms of aged-up users, one of the key strategic pillars for Roblox's growth is the platform's ability to retain users as they age up and acquire new age-up users.
The user group of 17-24 year-olds now stands at 33% of total users on the platform and they account for 23% of all hours engaged in Q4 2022, both all-time highs.
The next two years will be pivotal for Roblox in proving that it can continue to dominate the under-13 age group, while also retaining them as they age up and acquire new users in the over-13 age group.
Driving growth in bookings per daily active users will be key to ensuring that professional developers can build a sustainable business around their passion.
Overall, Roblox has the potential to be a "metaverse pioneer", driven by new technologies and human behaviour, especially among kids and youth. However, they will need to continue innovating and improving its platform to meet the evolving needs and expectations of its users and developers.
