Roblox game-buying frenzy is turning teens into millionaires
The 19-year-old, who asked that his name be withheld because he has never shared it publicly, made the game in just three months with the help of co-developers. It attracted more than 1 million simultaneous players following its release last year, he said, generating $5 million a month in purchases for Roblox Corp., the popular gaming platform.
Do Big Studios, an owner of other Roblox games that had helped develop Blue Lock: Rivals, bought the game in March, delivering a hefty payout to its teen owner.
Like YouTube, Roblox started two decades ago as an online stage for young creators. Video-game lovers could use the service's tools to develop inexpensive, low-resolution entertainment. Now, as the company grows toward 100 million active daily users, contributors are finding there's money to be had in selling the games they've created, with buyers prepared to pay seven or even eight figures.
'We've seen a real shift in Roblox's ecosystem,' said David Taylor, senior consultant at the video-game-analytics firm Naavik. In June, seven of the 15 highest-earning games on Roblox had been acquired from their original owners, according to his research.
The shift has been spawned in part by policy changes at Roblox. A December update to the service lets players easily transfer game ownership. Previously, Roblox said such sales were against its terms of service and community guidelines. A company spokesperson added that Roblox isn't currently participating in secondary-market transactions.
Do Big has been scooping up other titles, including Roblox's biggest hit ever. In May, the company bought a stake in Grow a Garden, currently the most popular game on Roblox, for an undisclosed sum. The farming title broke records in late June, when it attracted over 21 million simultaneous players — more than Fortnite from Epic Games Inc. Another Roblox game company, Splitting Point, had taken it over the prior month from an anonymous teenage developer for an undisclosed sum.
Representatives of Do Big didn't respond to a request for comment.
In February, an anonymous developer sold Roblox's then-most popular game Brookhaven RP to Voldex Entertainment Ltd. Voldex's founder and chief executive officer, Alex Singer, said the deal, with financing arranged by Raine Group and Shamrock Capital, was 'bigger' than the reported sum that Embracer Group AB paid for Roblox's Welcome to Bloxburg in 2022, though he declined to be more specific.
'When there are more dollars paid out to creators, it attracts more people,' said Singer, 24.
A report at the time put the Welcome to Bloxburg sale price at $100 million, though officials at Embracer said it was less.
According to Roblox, the company's top 10 developers earned $36 million each in the 12 months through March. The San Mateo, California-based company may pay out more than $1 billion in total to creators for the first time this year. In 2023, CEO Dave Baszucki predicted that by 2028 a Roblox developer will be valued at $1 billion.
Over a dozen companies buy, develop and sometimes flip Roblox games. Much of the activity is conducted over the chat app Discord, according to Connor Richards, a lawyer with Odin Law & Media who's been involved in a dozen deals. He's seen minors earn a few hundred thousand dollars from these deals.
Another technology lawyer, Adam Starr, said he's facilitated about 20 Roblox deals over the last year and is receiving more inquiries than ever. The developers often opt to remain anonymous.
Voldex's first major acquisitions, Driving Empire and Ultimate Football, cost the company seven figures, Singer said. A subsequent agreement with the NFL allowing the company to rename the property NFL Universe Football helped grow its audience.
'We've been able to sustain our communities and games and grow them while keeping players happy,' Singer said. 'That's really important.' He'll assign a team of programmers to analyze and improve a game, often alongside the original creator.
Roblox games rise and fall with kids' whims. A paintball simulator might die off after another creator publishes a Roblox clone of Ubisoft Entertainment SA's Rainbow 6 Siege. Only the rare game remains popular for months or years. Creators who know this will sometimes sell their games at a price equal to just one or two months' revenue. Others go for 12 months' worth of sales, according to Naavik's Taylor.
Independent game developers also trade their art or programming work for a share of game ownership.
'Roblox is very capitalist,' Voldex's Singer said. The company 'wants creators to be economically successful.'
D'Anastasio writes for Bloomberg.
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