Roblox CEO David Baszucki has never been afraid to put himself out there to showcase what he feels the “beloved” online title should be, could be, and will be. As co-founder of the game, he’s been here for quite some time and has seen the game grow into a title that over 90 million people play every single day. The question, though, is what does he think the future holds for the free-to-play experience? The good news is that we know some of his ideas via the TechStuff Podcast. He gave numerous thoughts on features and ideas that could be in the game soon.
However, whether some of them are good ideas remains to be seen. For example, he made it clear he would like “online dating” to be a part of the title:
“Someday, we’ll have dating on Roblox. I think a lot of people who might be afraid to go on a real-life date might find it easier to have a virtual date to start, and then if they connect, move to the physical world.”
To say “that’s dangerous” is an understatement, especially since the game and the dev team have been called out for how predators use the game to try and find victims. Even police officers have come forward to talk about such things, among other crimes and issues that the game causes for people.
Yet, the CEO says that safety is something that the team focuses on:
“We built safety in from day one. We don’t allow the sharing of images. We don’t allow unfiltered texts. We have access to all texts and all of those things. It creates a world where we have to try to keep people on Roblox. We don’t want them going to any other device or any other platform where, unfortunately, if a young person has access to a phone, there’s many other areas where they can start sharing pictures of themselves, or start trying to share their phone number or address. Over the years, we’ve accepted that challenge.”
They may have “accepted the challenge,” but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily rising to meet it. Case in point, the community the CEO claims to love and support had been asking for a LONG TIME to ban a certain member who was violating community rules, and yet was allowed to stay on. He was only banned after the dev team invited him to the game’s newest event, and backlash followed.
You can hear more on this and other things from the CEO via the podcast.
