Blog: Roblox

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

How PlayStation broke its hardware and active user records in Q4

Cover image for How PlayStation broke its hardware and active user records in Q4

Rhys Elliott

13 Feb 2025

Business Strategy

Sony released its financial results for calendar Q4 2024. Here are the high-level results: Sony generated revenues of $27.9 billion As always, its Game & Network Services (G&NS) Segment – PlayStation – was the biggest segment (38%) Sony Music accounted for 11% and Sony Pictures for 9% of revenue share respectively We'll be focusing on PlayStation for the rest of the article.

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Are social platforms losing the next generation to Roblox and Fortnite?

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Ben Woods

15 Nov 2024

Unpacking social media strategy is now part and parcel of any election postmortem. From Elon Musk’s ownership of X to Donald Trump’s use of creators to target Gen Z men, understanding social’s role in the US election is to understand how influence is wielded in the digital age.

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Social platforms are eating passive entertainment. Are games eating social?

Cover image for Social platforms are eating passive entertainment. Are games eating social?

Hanna Kahlert

22 Oct 2024

At Sony Music’s Interactive Tech Day in London on 22nd October, gaming was, ironically, the highlight. From artist takeovers of Roblox destinations to concert-type experiences in Fortnite Islands, the company’s music strategy is increasingly crossing over with the gaming world – a goal mirrored in the increasing closeness of Sony Music and Sony Interactive Entertainment, according to their respective speakers at the event.

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MIDiA launches video creator economy vertical as AI delivers transformative growth

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Ben Woods

11 Jul 2024

Business Strategy

Keeping step with AI’s impact on the video creation industry can be a daunting prospect. Ways of working that have existed for decades are being reorientated around generative AI tools. With these changes comes opportunities, risks and plenty of questions: AI is poised to open the gates to more entry-level creators, but to how many? And how will well-established creators – and the wider value chain – adapt to a new tool kit that majors on speed and productivity? Demystifying AI’s impact has been a key focus for MIDiA Research in recent months.

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Why Disney’s Epic Games investment challenges YouTube

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Ben Woods

9 Feb 2024

YouTube’s chief executive, Neil Mohan's, latest open letter was full of confidence . A little over a week since YouTube recorded a 16% jump in advertising revenue to $9.2 billion for Q4 2023 , he outlined four big bets to advance the business this year.

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Smart TV operators are gamifying engagement – here is how they can dial it up a notch

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Ben Woods

4 Jan 2024

Tracking Father Christmas’ journey on a smartphone app is a festive tradition of the modern era. Much like leaving a carrot out for Rudolf, many families are now logging on come Christmas Eve to keep tabs on his progress via different tracking apps.

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Why the video industry should embrace interactive gaming worlds

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Ben Woods

23 Nov 2023

linear broadcasters

Reaching audiences is an ongoing challenge for video IP holders, especially those with a stake in traditional broadcasting. There is the conundrum of transitioning linear audiences to streaming TV services.

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Is the quality of games going down?

Cover image for Is the quality of games going down?

Perry Gresham

24 Feb 2023

trueachievements

“Things aren’t like they used to be”, a common refrain of anyone over the age of about 25, is a sentiment especially prevalent amongst gamers today. Is this blind nostalgia, or have games really gotten worse? To investigate this, I looked into user rating data from TrueAchievements.

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iHeart brings podcasts to the metaverse – two niche formats looking for mainstream growth

Cover image for iHeart brings podcasts to the metaverse – two niche formats looking for mainstream growth

Annie Langston

8 Sep 2022

iHeartMedia is (somewhat) of a sleeping giant in the audio battle. Although Spotify has taken centre stage in the audio market, iHeart has also transitioned its traditional radio offerings to digital audio – just without splashy mainstream headlines.

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The trials and tribulations of virtual reality

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Perry Gresham

26 Aug 2022

virtual reality

The new world of virtual reality (VR) has felt closer over the past ten years than ever, but is still just over the horizon. VR remains niche The main sticking point is adoption: currently just under one in ten US gamers has a VR headset, dropping to around 1 in 20 in western Europe and even less in other tracked nations (MIDiA Research survey data).

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Quick take: Spotify to connect artists and fans on a Roblox island

Cover image for Quick take: Spotify to connect artists and fans on a Roblox island

Karol Severin

5 May 2022

Spotify launched a digital island in Roblox yesterday. The destination enables players to take part in interactive quests, buy virtual merchandise, mingle with artists, and create their own sounds and music powered by Soundtrap.

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Quick take: Roblox is another victim of the attention recession

Cover image for Quick take: Roblox is another victim of the attention recession

Karol Severin

17 Feb 2022

attention recession

Earlier this week, Roblox announced its fiscal year (FY) 2021 results. The market response was stark, wiping 20+% fromRoblox’s market cap. While the media is citing Roblox’s slowing growth (particularly in key markets such as the US), extended loss, and underperforming analyst expectations, Roblox encouraged investors to take a long-term view.

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The key winners and losers of the Covid-bounce effect in games

Cover image for The key winners and losers of the Covid-bounce effect in games

Karol Severin

14 Oct 2021

games engagement

As we have covered before, games engagement began to experience effects of the Covid-bounce . As usual, however, there are winners and losers within the wider micro-dynamics. The following graph demonstrates how 20 key games franchises fared in the US between Q2 2020 and Q2 2021, in terms of consumer penetration growth: Roblox and Rockstar are the biggest winners Roblox grew 49% in penetration year on year.

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Creator tools are changing the power dynamic of audiences and platforms

Cover image for Creator tools are changing the power dynamic of audiences and platforms

Hanna Kahlert

31 Aug 2021

As ever, the maturation of markets begs the question: “what next?” – and we have now hit this point with streaming, as the ‘ big bang’ moment of D2C video streaming platforms coincides with the slowing growth of Spotify and the pandemic-driven struggle of independent artists to make revenue on their creative output.

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Roblox continues its growth story narrative, but cannot escape the Covid-bounce effect

Cover image for Roblox continues its growth story narrative, but cannot escape the Covid-bounce effect

Karol Severin

20 Aug 2021

financial results

Roblox reported on its Q2 2021 results this week. Indeed, a continuation of the company’s growth story with bookings surpassing $665 million, up 35% year-on-year. On paper, the 127% YoY growth of revenue looks even more impressive.

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The opportunity behind the Roblox lawsuit

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Kriss Thakrar

14 Jun 2021

Three months ago, MIDiA reported on the role of the Boombox in Roblox and the potential of the unique (and unlicensed) behaviour that was emerging around it. Subsequently, the National Music Publishers Association has filed a $200 million lawsuit against the platform, directly citing the copyright infringement facilitated by the in-game product.

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Roblox, piracy and the future of music in UGC 2.0

Cover image for Roblox, piracy and the future of music in UGC 2.0

Kriss Thakrar

19 Mar 2021

user-generated content

A community of Roblox users are losing a battle against moderation as the platform cracks down on music piracy, due to the platform’s newly public status bringing with it a new level of responsibility.

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Why Roblox is well set to withstand the COVID bounce effect

Cover image for Why Roblox is well set to withstand the COVID bounce effect

Karol Severin

15 Mar 2021

lean-in consumption

Roblox has launched an initial public offering (IPO) this week. Timing-wise, the twice-delayed IPO aligns with the world getting closer to opening up, and out-of-home competitive pressures returning. This invites questions around how much of the current valuation is aided by a temporary, artificial COVID-related boost, as opposed to fundamental trends which will drive growth for Roblox during the ‘new normal’.

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Can Roblox get a better value out of its IPO postponement?

Cover image for Can Roblox get a better value out of its IPO postponement?

Karol Severin

16 Dec 2020

cross-entertainment

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Roblox is delaying its IPO to 2021. WSJ states that “…company officials decided that the gravity-defying performance this week ofAirbnb andDoorDash made it too difficult to determine the right price for the videogame company’s shares”.

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