Latest news with #Baszucki
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Roblox CEO: We want a piece of this $190 billion market
Listen, like, and subscribe to Opening Bid on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Roblox (RBLX) co-founder and CEO Dave Baszucki wants his piece of the gaming pie. "We've shared that the gaming market is a $190 billion market, and we have the goal of having 10% of that run on our Roblox platform," Baszucki said in a new episode of Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast (watch above; listen only below). Baszucki said Roblox is starting to have success with older kids, helped by a push into sports content. "We're starting to see more content that's appealing. So all of these things are really creating an ecosystem for better content, a wider range of people all around the world," Baszucki added. This embedded content is not available in your region. Roblox is fresh off a better-than-expected first quarter as it gained traction with new gaming genres like racing with children over age 13. Revenue, daily active users, and bookings all increased by double-digit percentages year over year. Sales clocked in at $1.03 billion, up 29% from the prior year. Bookings — a measure of in-game currency sales — gained 31% to $1.2 billion. Average daily users improved 26% to 97.8 million. Total hours of engagement on the platform increased 30% to 21.7 billion. For the full year, Roblox forecasts revenue of $4.3 billion to $4.365 billion, up about 19.5% year over year. Adjusted operating profits are projected between $205 million and $265 million. At the midpoint, it would equate to adjusted operating profit growth of about 28%. The strong start to the year has pushed Roblox shares to a 52-week high. Its stock is up 165% over the past year. Among the 30 sell-side analysts that cover Roblox, 70% rate the stock a Strong Buy or Buy and 20% rate it a Hold, according to Yahoo Finance data. Interestingly, the average analyst price target on Roblox is $77.95 — 16% below current levels. Yahoo Finance's Invest conference is coming soon — register here "Roblox is taking share of video game user time and spend, and we believe the company has a significant monetization opportunity, including two new revenue streams ramping in advertising and commerce," JPMorgan analyst Cory Carpenter said in a note. "We expect this to support sustained 20%+ bookings growth, which combined with RBLX coming out of a heavy investment cycle should result in FCF compounding at 30%+ through 2027." Carpenter rates Roblox shares at Overweight, a Buy equivalent. Three times each week, Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi fields insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service. Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Insider
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Roblox CEO says he wants to protect your kids — but you're going to need to pitch in, too.
Many, many parents do. The gaming platform has a huge audience — some 85 million people visit it daily — and about 40% of them are under the age of 13. But Roblox's youthful user base is also a question mark for the company. Some people worry that the platform, which hosts millions of user-generated games and encourages kids to chat with each other, is an attractive target for predators. Others simply worry that there isn't enough oversight at the giant digital playground, which allows kids to play everything from dress-up games to ones that mimic school shootings (Roblox recently shut one of those down). Meanwhile, Roblox is trying to convince investors — who currently value the company at $40 billion — that its future growth will come from older teens and adults. It's a complicated question for Roblox CEO David Baszucki, who co-founded the company back in 2004 and launched it in 2006. On the one hand, Baszucki is trying to convince regulators and parents around the world that Roblox is safe because his company spends a lot of time and effort policing the platform; on the other hand, Roblox owes its success to the fact that it's a platform — just like YouTube, or Facebook, or TikTok — whose users decide what they want out of it. I talked to Baszucki for my Channels podcast, and our conversation ended up touching on a wide range of topics, including the company's relationship with Apple and Google, and its approach to intellectual property. This edited excerpt focuses on Roblox's double-edged age issue: Peter Kafka: Roblox has a big, young user base. You get a lot of criticism about it. Sometimes the concerns are about grooming on the platform. Some parents just think the games are uncouth or just don't like the idea of kids talking to other kids in an unregulated way. Has your thinking about the issue of kids on your platform changed, or has it been consistent since you started? David Baszucki: I think in retrospect, when we think about starting the company for all ages, 18 years ago, we're very glad we did that. It was a really hard thing to do. It's much easier to build a gaming platform that's 13-and-up, which is where many social media apps are today. And when something's built for 13-and-up, it can create a situation where you don't go straight after the real big challenges. For us, literally in the first few months of being live, we started building our first safety systems and made it a top priority. There was a time when the four of us who were the Roblox founders were in the room moderating. Each one of us took a day. That has evolved over the last 16 to 18 years to the development of over 200 AI systems, automatic filtering of all text on the platform, automatic filtering with human supplement of all images on the platform. I would say over time we have gotten better, better, better, better, better. [But] any single issue for us is one too many. And we do treat any issue as one too many, but we're very optimistic that we're going very much in the right direction and that the value of embracing this prevents what happens when 8, 9, and 10 year olds are on a 13-and-up platform that doesn't have these same ways of maintaining safety and civility. So it's a hard challenge. We've embraced it. Do you feel like the perception of the brand has changed over time? I can talk to my coworkers who've got young kids, and they say, "I don't want my kid to get on there. I want them to stay on Minecraft. I'm worried about Roblox." And they might not even be able to articulate what their concern is, but they've just heard it's bad, or they're worried about it. Does that filter back to you? I'm assuming you guys are hearing that all the time. We take that very, very seriously. What we have seen over the last four to five years — so many parents recognize the benefits and differences between a 3D connection platform versus maybe a social media platform where you're watching videos or you're sharing pictures of yourself. And during COVID many, many, many parents around the world said, "Oh my gosh, this is a way for my kids to stay in touch with their friends" in a way parallel to maybe when I was younger on a rainy day, I used the telephone and I'd call my friend up and we'd hang out on the phone for half an hour. People are doing that on Roblox right now. I feel there's a general recognition in society that connection is a positive. We see it all the time on Roblox. And I do think parents are getting more savvy about that type of connection versus short-form video by yourself or getting catfished by sharing your picture on a social media platform. Once again, we take everything very seriously, but the vast majority of parents we run into are very supportive of our platform. On the one hand, that totally makes sense to me. I'm a parent, I get the logic of it. On the other hand, I could imagine parents saying, "Wait — you're putting all the responsibility on me and you've built this platform. Isn't it your responsibility to control this thing?" I would put a bracket around that single statement. And that bracket was a dialogue we were having around just so much we do, because we know not all parents are able to get on the platform with their kids and set parental controls. There are many parents who are so busy in their life — they hand their youngster an iPad and say, "Go play Roblox." So we have to be ready for the parent who isn't able to be involved. And we have to be, I would say — even from a company values and moral responsibility — driving the vision on that to be a great place for civility and optimism. In the middle of all of that we do, I would say definitely to parents: "We're doing a lot, like we're gonna focus on it whether you're an involved parent or not. If you're uncomfortable with your 12-year-old in any situation, whether it's Roblox, whether it's the community pool, whether it's the playground, whether it's anything … we stand behind you." There's a debate going on now — it's really between Apple and Meta — about who should be responsible for determining how old a user is. Where do you come down on this? Should this be managed on the device level? Should it be the application? We would love it if every device in the world said the user of this is exactly 11.2 years old and it's been validated. The reality is we can't wait for that. And the reality is we're not sure if and when we will have that. We've taken the notion that we will get better, better, better, irrespective of that. And if we get a signal like that, we will welcome it. We are leaning into our own age estimation. We are leaning into, I think, a really interesting area, which is not just 12-and-under, but the 13-through-17 area. And the 13-through-17 area is — independent of age estimation — very sensitive because that's a very sensitive part of the life of young people. And in most platforms right now, they can chat unfiltered with whoever they want. A lot of things happen in that area. So I think we're moving to a point where, for older people who we know who they are — you could imagine you and I are going to play poker and we're going to talk about whatever we want. We're going to not be filtered, possibly not be recorded, like let's embrace free speech and the laws of the physical world. But for 13-through-17-year-olds, we're gonna be very thoughtful about who they chat with, and if and when they get to know who that person is in the real world.
Bloomberg
02-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Roblox CEO 'Optimistic' About AI Uses
Roblox CEO David Baszucki says he is optimistic about AI's ability to help improve online safety for kids and help creators. Baszucki shares his outlook for the gaming platform in an exclusive interview with Caroline Hyde on 'Bloomberg Technology.' (Source: Bloomberg)
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Parents allowed to block children's games and friends on Roblox
Parents will be able to block their children from specific games and experiences on Roblox as part of new safety measures announced by the hugely popular gaming will also be able to block or report their children's friends, and the platform will provide more information about which games young users are playing. The measures will only apply to children who are under the age of 13 and have parental controls set up on their announcements comes after the CEO of Roblox, Dave Baszucki told the BBC that parents should keep their children off the platform if they were "not comfortable" with it. Roblox - the most popular site in the UK for gamers aged eight to 12 - has been dogged by claims that some children are being exposed to explicit or harmful content through its in his BBC interview, Mr Baszucki stressed that the company was vigilant about protecting its users, with "tens of millions" of people having "amazing" experiences on the latest safety features, Roblox's Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said: "These tools, features, and innovations reflect our mission to make Roblox the safest and most civil online platform in the world."A spokesperson for the regulator, Ofcom, said the measures were "encouraging", but added "tech companies will have to do a lot more in the coming months to protect children online". 'Shoot down planes' In preparation for the interview with Mr Baszucki, the BBC found a range of game titles with troubling titles that had been recommended to an 11-year-old on the included games such as "Late Night Boys And Girls Club RP" and "Shoot down planes…because why not?"Parents with linked accounts of children who are 12 and under can now block such titles if they are uncomfortable with them. They will also be able to go further in managing who their children are friends with. They can already view their child's friends list - now they can block or report people on that list, preventing them exchanging direct between children had already been restricted in measures announced in November last parents will now be able to see the top games their child played on Roblox over the last week and how long they spent in each one. What do parents think? Sally, from the north of Scotland, told the BBC last month that her nine-year-old daughter was groomed on the platform in December last year. Despite reporting it to Roblox, she never received a welcomed the announcements as a "start", but said Roblox "needs to do better".She added: "What's missing is proper authentication of users. How does the company know that users are who they say they are - how will perpetrators be traced when grooming keeps happening?"Roblox highlighted to BBC News its community standards, which have a zero-tolerance policy for the exploitation of from Leeds told the BBC last month that his 15-year-old son is "addicted" to Roblox, and can use the site for up to 14 hours a has welcomed the changes announced today for younger users, but wants the platform itself to do more and target the availability of inappropriate games for children. Kathryn Foley's nine-year-old daughter Helene is a regular on Roblox. Kathryn ensures her daughter avoids games where other players would talk to her, or friend Foley told BBC News: "I know I will absolutely be using the game blocking feature, and to see how long my daughter spends on particular games - and also if she is playing games I didn't know she played."Kirsty Solman has spoken with the BBC about how Roblox has helped her 13-year-old son Kyle - who has ADHD, autism and severe anxiety - with social said: "These all sound fantastic especially the experience blocking, as a concern is the type of games our children are accessing."Roblox has also announced the expansion of its voice safety AI (artificial intelligence) model, to help moderate voice chats between players, with the feature now available in seven additional Roblox has outlined changes to its advertising model, with players to be paid in-game currency to watch adverts on the BBC has changed some names in this report to protect the identities of young people.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Parents allowed to block children's games and friends on Roblox
Parents will be able to block their children from specific games and experiences on Roblox as part of new safety measures announced by the hugely popular gaming platform. They will also be able to block or report their children's friends, and the platform will provide more information about which games young users are playing. The measures will only apply to children who are under the age of 13 and have parental controls set up on their accounts. The announcements comes after the CEO of Roblox, Dave Baszucki told the BBC that parents should keep their children off the platform if they were "not comfortable" with it. Roblox - the most popular site in the UK for gamers aged eight to 12 - has been dogged by claims that some children are being exposed to explicit or harmful content through its games. However, in his BBC interview, Mr Baszucki stressed that the company was vigilant about protecting its users, with "tens of millions" of people having "amazing" experiences on Roblox. Announcing the latest safety features, Roblox's Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said: "These tools, features, and innovations reflect our mission to make Roblox the safest and most civil online platform in the world." A spokesperson for the regulator, Ofcom, said the measures were "encouraging", but added "tech companies will have to do a lot more in the coming months to protect children online". How can you keep your child safe online? Plan to make phone use safer for teens watered down In preparation for the interview with Mr Baszucki, the BBC found a range of game titles with troubling titles that had been recommended to an 11-year-old on the platform. They included games such as "Late Night Boys And Girls Club RP" and "Shoot down planes…because why not?" Parents with linked accounts of children who are 12 and under can now block such titles if they are uncomfortable with them. They will also be able to go further in managing who their children are friends with. They can already view their child's friends list - now they can block or report people on that list, preventing them exchanging direct messages. Messaging between children had already been restricted in measures announced in November last year. Additionally, parents will now be able to see the top games their child played on Roblox over the last week and how long they spent in each one. Sally, from the north of Scotland, told the BBC last month that her nine-year-old daughter was groomed on the platform in December last year. Despite reporting it to Roblox, she never received a response. She welcomed the announcements as a "start", but said Roblox "needs to do better". She added: "What's missing is proper authentication of users. How does the company know that users are who they say they are - how will perpetrators be traced when grooming keeps happening?" Roblox highlighted to BBC News its community standards, which have a zero-tolerance policy for the exploitation of minors. Amir from Leeds told the BBC last month that his 15-year-old son is "addicted" to Roblox, and can use the site for up to 14 hours a day. He has welcomed the changes announced today for younger users, but wants the platform itself to do more and target the availability of inappropriate games for children. Kathryn Foley's nine-year-old daughter Helene is a regular on Roblox. Kathryn ensures her daughter avoids games where other players would talk to her, or friend requests. Ms Foley told BBC News: "I know I will absolutely be using the game blocking feature, and to see how long my daughter spends on particular games - and also if she is playing games I didn't know she played." Kirsty Solman has spoken with the BBC about how Roblox has helped her 13-year-old son Kyle - who has ADHD, autism and severe anxiety - with social interactions. She said: "These all sound fantastic especially the experience blocking, as a concern is the type of games our children are accessing." Roblox has also announced the expansion of its voice safety AI (artificial intelligence) model, to help moderate voice chats between players, with the feature now available in seven additional languages. Meanwhile, Roblox has outlined changes to its advertising model, with players to be paid in-game currency to watch adverts on the platform. The BBC has changed some names in this report to protect the identities of young people.
