Roblox keeps adding users of all ages

Roblox Corp. just posted a strong Q2, with revenues rising 31% year-on-year to $894 million, engagement hours up 24% to 17.4 billion, and daily active users reaching 79.5 million, as more and more people log in each day to explore the vast range of “experiences” that the video game platform has to offer. 

Although shares actually slipped yesterday on the back of news that the company’s long-serving CFO Michael Guthrie would be stepping down, there was much for Roblox execs to cheer, not least of all that their efforts to host more mature content on the platform (think games with horror elements, violence, and crude humor) seem to be paying off. 

Not just for kids

While Roblox has always been pretty broad in terms of what users can actually get up to — you can clock in for a shift at a virtual Ikea and get paid actual money to do so, for instance, or attend in-game concerts from artists like Charli XCX, Mariah Carey, or Lil Nas X — the company announced plans last summer to let game developers make exclusive content for users who've verified they're over 17. 

Since then, the platform has seen the oldest cohort that it breaks out, the over 13s, grow by almost 10 million daily active users, while the number of DAUs aged 13 and under has risen just 4.2 million in the same period.