By Zaheer Kachwala
(Reuters) – Roblox will launch paid video games on its platform and allow developers to sell physical products through their created games, the company said on Friday.
The video game company will add the ability to price certain games, or what it calls experiences, in real currency for desktop computers, it said at its developer conference. Roblox will support a higher revenue share for creators of up to 70%, but it will vary based on the price of the game.
The paid experiences will launch on personal computers later this year, with plans to expand to all other devices in the future, he said.
The move marks a minor departure from Roblox's long-standing and successful free-to-play business model, which centered around purchases of its in-game currency “Robux,” which is used to purchase items like cosmetics and collectibles within the company's digital worlds.
“By offering our new revenue shares on paid access experiences, we're giving our existing creators another way to make money on Roblox,” said Enrico D'Angelo, Vice President of Economics at Roblox.
Unlike traditional video game companies, Roblox relies heavily on user-generated content to drive engagement, rewarding creators who make games that become popular and garner millions of views on the platform. The company said it paid out more than $800 million to the creator community in the past 12 months.
Roblox has partnered with Shopify (NYSE:) to allow individual creators to sell physical products directly from their games early next year.
The company also has partnerships with brands like Walmart (NYSE:) and Elf Beauty to launch stores within its platform through which players can directly purchase real products.
Roblox’s efforts to expand monetization avenues could help it navigate a challenging time for the gaming industry, where an uncertain macroeconomy is weighing on discretionary budgets and players are sticking to tried-and-true titles.
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