Roblox CEO announces that the goal is to reach '1 billion active daily users' and 10% revenue from global gaming.

The Roblox Developers conference is underway. In his keynote address, CEO and cofounder David Baszucki announced a modest goal. He said that Roblox would have one billion daily active users and 10% of the revenue from all gaming content worldwide. For context, the United Nations estimates that the world population will be just over eight billion by November 2022.

Roblox is a platform that is not even close to the size of Roblox. It boasts 79.5 millions daily active users - a number that is nothing to sniff at, but getting to one billion users seems impossible. Baszucki's first target is the idea that these users are all young children.

Baszucki says that 58% of the 79.5 millions Roblox users are over the age of 13, though the percentage above 18 may have been more telling. "When Erik Cassel founded Roblox with me in 2006, our motivation was a question that still drives us today: How can humans connect through play?"

Baszucki then goes on to discuss how Roblox connects with people before addressing the industry's size and that headline. Baszucki says, "The gaming industry is huge. 3.4 billion people are active gamers and generates over $180 billion annually." "As a next step on our journey to one billion daily users, we share an ambitious goal: As our next stepping-stone on our way towards one billion daily active user, we share a shared ambition: We believe that ten percent of all gaming content worldwide will flow through Roblox ecosystem and distributed within our Roblox Community.

"We believe that we will reach around 300 million daily active users on our way to 10% gaming content revenue. We estimate that 80% of these people will use Roblox to play with others, while the rest will shop, watch entertainment, learn or just communicate with each other.

Ookay. I'm not sure why Baszucki sets the goal of one billion users, then reduces it to 300 million users per day. That is still a huge goal. It could be a case of long term aspirations versus short-term reality, but a billion people is a huge number. I'm surprised Baszucki did not give more insight into why Roblox believes that this goal is achievable (if it is, and if it isn't only to get investors rubbing their pants).

Roblox announced new tools that it believes will help boost its user numbers. First, there's Party, which allows Roblox friends to group up, communicate and move around experiences, the platform's designation of the games that it hosts. Voice chat is limited to those aged 13 and older. Party will also ensure that friends are matched on the same server. It will be fully implemented by the end the year.

Music is another major focus. The "What's Playing?" feature allows users to search for popular and trending music and any experiences that go with it. Roblox also has an idea called "Music Charts", which will launch in 2025. This makes me miss Top of the Pops.

DistroKid is a music distribution company that will help artists upload their music to Roblox and allow creators to use it. Baszucki says that this is "part of our vision," which is to make Roblox "a destination for immersive and organic music discovery." Now I miss MTV.

Non-players can laugh at Roblox. But these announcements will make a big difference for creators, players and music artists who are looking to expose their tunes to a large audience. Roblox doesn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to how it will do it. Charts, community and whatever the successor of the music video may be are all options.

Roblox will also be changing what types of businesses are allowed on the platform, as well as how premium experiences can be priced. The feature will launch in early 2025, and the first commercial partner is Shopify. Creators will also be able to set the price of their experiences using "real currency" (revenue sharing: 50-70%, depending on price), and there will be a tool to help them find the sweet spot. These kids will be squeezed to the point of squeaking.

Soon after, Roblox will launch regional pricing recommendations and allow creators to change prices by region. This is all about creating "a virtual economic that is more inclusive and accessible globally."

Roblox has a serious cultural impact (see, for example, the BBC explaining UK's general elections to young Brits through Roblox). But this has also increased scrutiny over its commercial practices and platform's safety for youth users. Stefano Corazza, the head of the Roblox studio, denies that the company's revenue sharing model and the company itself are a modern equivalent to "child labor". He counters by saying "we offer people anywhere in the globe the capability to find a job." This argument does not seem to have much weight with Turkish officials, who have banned Roblox outright for alleged "child abuse."

This is the larger context of Roblox's future. As its power and scale grow, the revenue sharing issues and safety concerns in particular seem to be a never-ending issue. It's the sort of thing that could crimp your ability attract a billion people daily.

Roblox users will be familiar with many of the features announced during RDC, even if they are in a more limited form. Walmart has been selling real world items since early this year. You can also apply for a position at the Roblox version IKEA and serve virtual meatballs. Roblox is already used by many artists to promote their music and host concerts. The company has previously boasted of the AI that will create everything for you. All of these features fit into what Roblox already does well.

Roblox is doing business as usual. Business is very, very strong.