When you’re the head of a company, regardless of what the company is and how successful it is or isn’t, you are the person that everyone looks up to when they need to hear certain things, certain decisions need to be made, and to be the “voice of the company” when it’s time to do press. The Roblox CEO, David Baszucki, has been talking quite a bit over the last seven months, and for good and bad reasons. On the one hand, his game that he co-created is at an all-time peak right now regarding stocks. On the other hand, the game is mired in controversy on multiple levels, and many wonder if this “bubble” will burst soon.
In a chat with Sherwood, the Roblox CEO broke down many things, including what the “true intent” of the game was back in the day:
“When we started Roblox, the vision — the long-term vision — was: to what extent could we simulate 3D reality? It takes incredible technical innovation to get there. It’s very different than downloading a game. It’s very different than streaming video. It’s the fabric of the metaverse. It just so happens, games overlap a lot with reality simulators.”
To his team’s credit, they did create a vast universe where gamers not only reside, but they also build upon in many ways. One of the key “hooks” of the game is that players come in and create their own gaming titles or even worlds for others to explore. If that were the game in its full form, that wouldn’t cause much controversy outside of potential moderation issues, which the game definitely has. However, one thing that continuously gets the ire of players and player parents is microtransactions, which the universe relies on to stay afloat. On that matter, Baszucki said:
“We could see user growth in hours growing faster than revenue, which is a very dangerous sign, because it means you could get really big and still not be able to hire more people. We need creators participating; we need creators to earn a living on it. It was a little contentious, because we were [asking], should Roblox be a hobby, or should people make a living on Roblox?”
Whether numerous creators can actually “make a living” in the game is debatable, and the question of player safety still remains. Baszucki himself stated that the game wasn’t “meant for kids” in its original state, and that it just “became that way” over time, with over 40% of its gamer base being under the age of 13.
While that may be the case, that doesn’t mean they can just “let things lie,” or else more controversies could follow them.
