Roblox set to launch paid videogames on its virtual platform

By Zaheer Kachwala

(Reuters) - Roblox will roll out paid videogames on its platform and allow developers to sell physical merchandise through their created games, the company said on Friday.

The video gaming company will add the ability to price certain games, or what it calls experiences, in real currency for desktops, it said at its developers conference. Roblox will support a higher revenue share for the creators of up to 70%, but it will vary with the price of the game.

Paid experiences will launch on personal computers later this year, with plans to expand to all other devices in the future, it said.

The move is a minor departure from Roblox's successful and longstanding business model of free-to-play games, with a focus on purchases of its in-game currency "Robux", which is used to buy items such as cosmetics and collectibles inside the company's digital worlds.

"By offering our new revenue shares for paid access experiences, we're giving our existing creators another way to earn on Roblox," said Enrico D'Angelo, vice president of economy at Roblox.

Unlike traditional videogame companies, Roblox heavily relies on user-generated content to drive engagement, rewarding creators who make games that become popular and gain millions of visits on the platform. The company said it paid more than $800 million to the creator community in the last 12 months.

Roblox has partnered with Shopify to allow individual creators to sell physical merchandise directly from their games early next year.

The company also has tieups with brands such as Walmart and Elf Beauty to launch stores within its platform through which players can directly buy real products.

Roblox's efforts to expand monetization avenues could help it navigate a challenging time for the gaming industry where an uncertain macro economy weighs on discretionary budgets and gamers stick to proven titles.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)