My house is packed with video game consoles, phones, and computers hosting a world of shiny AAA games and quirky indies, yet my 8-year-old daughter spends the bulk of her time in a free-to-play game called Roblox on whatever screen is in front of her. She even spends a chunk of her allowance on a Roblox Premium subscription.
She’s not alone. Roblox is the most popular game with 5- to 12-year-olds in the US, according to Rooster Money, and it topped the pocket money spending charts in the UK in 2020 ahead of Fortnite. The company recently began trading on the New York Stock Exchange and was valued at a staggering $45 billion. You can play it virtually anywhere, from an Xbox to a phone, laptop, or PC, and it boasts more than 32.6 million daily active users as well as 8 million active creators and developers spanning 180 countries. It’s completely free to make a Roblox account.
My 11-year-old son plays other games and says he’s not that into Roblox, but the fact that he’s often playing it when I look over his shoulder tells a different story. He says it’s one of the few games he can play with all his friends.
Virtual WorldsLet's get one thing straight. Roblox isn’t really a game. It's a free platform where players can dip in and out of different virtual worlds and play any game in them. It’s packed with user-created content spanning a dizzying variety of genres and titles. The graphics are basic, there are glitches and bugs galore, and even many of the most popular games lack polish. I didn’t get the appeal after watching my kids play, but then I joined in.
Dragon Adventures in Roblox.
Photograph: Roblox
