Roblox
| Roblox | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Roblox Corporation |
| Publisher(s) | Roblox Corporation  |
| Platform(s) | Phone (iOS, Android)
PC/Laptops (macOS, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS) Tablets (fireOS, iPadOS, etc), Consoles (Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5) |
| Release | September 1, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Massively multiplayer online game massively multiplayer online role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer single-player |
Roblox is an online video game and game creation system made by the Roblox Corporation.[1] It was created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in 2006. The old name for Roblox was Dynablocks.[2]
Roblox allows players to create games and play games created by others, with many different types of games available. Roblox can be played on mobile, PC, Xbox and Playstation. It cannot be played in a web browser, however. Roblox itself is free to play. Virtual accessories can be bought in the store using "Robux",[3] a currency which costs real money to obtain but can also be earned by selling virtual items to other players.
Roblox has over 205 million monthly active players and began to grow fast in 2021. Roblox's popularity was falling from 16 December 2022. It had 55.1 million daily active users worldwide. This is an increase from 19.1 million daily active users by the end of 2019.[4]
History
[change | change source]
In 1989, Roblox was an interactive physics software released by Knowledge Revolution. The company was founded by David Baszucki and co-owned by his brother Greg Baszucki. The software was designed to teach students about physics in a 2D space. In 2004, Roblox published its beta version to public.
Roblox had many big changes in 2006. In January 2006, Roblox made changes to become multiplayer. The API for this was not used until March 2006. In February 2006, Roblox left beta and was made free for all players. In September 2006, Roblox made changes to the multiplayer API so that players could make their own multiplayer games instead of the game being made by Roblox developers. In May 2007, the Roblox developers began making virtual items. Its first virtual item was a top hat. Roblox also started the Builders Club. This was a paid membership. Guest mode was introduced in 2008. This was for players that wanted to play Roblox without making an account. Higher forms of the Builders Club were started in 2009. These were known as the Turbo Builders Club and the Outrageous Builders Club.[source?]
In 2010, Roblox Studio was changed so that game developers could understand its features easily. The next year, Roblox released its first commercial. The commercial had the well-known quote, "IT'S FREE!"
On 1 April 2012, Roblox was hacked. It caused the Roblox website to be shut down that day. On 2 April 2012, the website was recovered. The hacking incident is mostly known as the 'April Fools Hacking Incident'.
In 2013, Roblox added dynamic lighting. Its purpose was to make the lighting in the game more realistic. This update received more updates over time. In June 2015, Roblox released Smooth Terrain. This made the terrain (such as sand, grass, water, etc.) look better. On 14 April 2016, the Roblox currency Tix was removed.[5] In September 2016, Roblox released R15 to the public.[6].In January 2017, Roblox changed their logo. The YouTube channel for the game also released a music video[7] to showcase it. In October 2017, Roblox removed Guest Mode. In 2019, Builders Club was replaced with Roblox Premium.[8]
In December 2020, Roblox announced that players would soon no longer need Premium to upload clothing. They would need to pay a fee for 10 Robux for each upload. The change was added in March 2021.[9] In August 2021, Roblox bought the development team of a communication app known as Guilded for 90 million USD.[10][11][12] In the same month, they chose some developers to test out voice chatting features.[13] In October 2021, Roblox had to shut down the website due the Chipotle incident. Shortly after in October 2023, Roblox removed a once loved Xbox theme from 2017, this brought up lots of controversy among the community.
At Roblox Developer Conference 2023, Roblox announced that it would be opening up to online dating for all Roblox players 17 and above. Some in the community say this is a bad idea as inappropriate images could be sent by online predators.
Legal issues
[change | change source]In May 2021, an unknown user filed a class action lawsuit against the Roblox Corporation. The suit said that they were scamming players by not giving out refunds when banned items get deleted.[14] In June 2021, a group of music publishers sued the Roblox company for mass copyright infringement (using many copyrighted songs without being allowed to), with the publishers seeking 200 million US dollars from them.[15]
In May 2022, Roblox was once again sued. The users of Roblox added copyrighted content which led to Roblox removing all user-made audio longer than 6 seconds. Along with the update, they added more FX made by official developers as the community works towards getting audio and background music back. They also limited audio to 180 audio files a game.
A policy exists within in the game that with an account, if any copyrighted thing, (e.g. characters, places) was to be in a lawsuit, the account owner would be at fault.
Game creation
[change | change source]Roblox lets its players create their own games using its own separate app, Roblox Studio. Players can build anything they want by using the Studio, and then publish their game to the Roblox website for anyone to play. Roblox encourages its players to create new games because every game is made by other users. However, it is only available on MacOS and Microsoft Windows.
Games
[change | change source]See main article, List of Roblox games
There are over 18 million different games in Roblox.[16][17]
Virtual items and currency
[change | change source]Players on Roblox can buy virtual items from the Catalog using virtual currency named 'Robux'. This currency is obtained initially by buying a Roblox Premium membership or from a gift card. It can also be made by selling items like game passes or accessories to other players for Robux, as well as making clothing items or playing donation games. The currency can be used by players to buy accessories and items for their character. It can also be used for in-game benefits.
Another form of currency was the Tix, also known as Tickets. All players could get a few Tix each day that they log the game. They could trade those Tix for Robux. Tix were removed from the game in April 14th 2016.[18]
Membership
[change | change source]
Builders Club was Roblox's first membership club which could only be used through a purchase. Builders Club gave its members more features in Roblox, such as earning its virtual currency called Robux, and the ability to trade items. Another thing players could do was sell Limited items (buy-able and sell-able items on the Avatar Shop). There were three types of Builders Club: Classic, Turbo, and Outrageous. Classic was the original Builders Club type and Outrageous was the newest. Players would either buy it monthly or annually.
In 2019, Builder's Club was removed and replaced with Premium. Premium is very much like the original Builders Club except it gives players Robux every month instead of daily. Premium players also get access to perks in select games and get discounts from User-generated content.
Since 2024, users can buy the 2nd tier of Roblox Premium to get the ability to create User-generated items.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Diaz, Ana (2021-03-11). "Why is everyone talking about Roblox?". Polygon. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
- ↑ "DynaBlocks". Roblox Wiki. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
- ↑ Kunthara, Sophia (2020-11-19). "Roblox Had 'Rapid' Revenue Growth Due to COVID-19, Its IPO Filing Reveals, But Growing Losses Too". Crunchbase News. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
- ↑ Infrex, India (2023-02-28). "Roblox Popularity Score". NCERT Infrexa. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ↑ "Saying Goodbye to Tickets". Roblox Blog. 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ↑ "The R15 Avatar is Here! | ROBLOX Blog | Informing and empowering ROBLOXians". web.archive.org. 2016-09-28. Archived from the original on 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ↑ "Roblox Anthem Video". YouTube.
- ↑ "Introducing Roblox Premium". Roblox Blog. 2019-09-23. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ↑ "Upcoming Changes to Avatar Catalog Upload Requirements". DevForum | Roblox. 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
- ↑ "Joining Roblox". Guilded - Chat for Gaming Communities. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- ↑ Francis, Bryant (16 August 2021). "Roblox now owns online communications platform Guilded". gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- ↑ "Form 10-Q" (PDF). 30 June 2021.
- ↑ Peters, Jay (2021-09-02). "Roblox is getting voice chat, starting first with 'Spatial Voice'". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
- ↑ "Roblox Accused in Suit of Cheating Kids With Bogus Purchases". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg Business. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
- ↑ Needleman, Anne Steele and Sarah E. (2021-06-09). "WSJ News Exclusive | Music Publishers Sue Roblox for Letting Game Creators Use Unlicensed Songs". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
- ↑ "Roblox User and Growth Stats You Need to Know in 2024". Backlinko. 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ↑ Morris, Lisa J. "How Many Games are There in Roblox? | Discover the Vast Collection". lionadegames.com. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ↑ Sidhwani, Priyansh (2021-03-12). "The History Of Roblox : From 2004 Until Now". TechStory. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
- ↑ Singh, Ranu (2024-11-20). "Get 45 Free Roblox Gift Cards (2024) From This Giveaway". Geminey. Retrieved 2024-11-21.