Roblox at 20: Growing Up in Public

The character a player plays as. Players dress it up with clothes, hair and accessories, and on Roblox it doubles as a self-portrait.

Digital clothes, accessories and animations for avatars. Players buy them with Robux, earn them in games, or get them free from brand events.

Internet slang for deliberately absurd meme content. “Italian brainrot” characters, such as Tung Tung Tung Sahur, are the collectables in Steal a Brainrot.

Roblox’s tool that turns a typed prompt into a playable game. It is open to age-checked players aged nine and up.

Short words players type into a game to unlock free items. Brands often print them on toys or packaging.

Limited-time content inside a game, such as a concert, a film tie-in or a seasonal update, usually with items you can only get while it runs.

Anything you can play on Roblox. Roblox calls them “experiences”, and almost all of them are made by independent creators, not by Roblox.

Avatar items released in fixed numbers or for a short time. That scarcity makes them collectable, and players often trade them.

Roblox’s short-video feed, where players share clips captured in games.

Short for obstacle course: players run and jump through a course of hazards to reach the end. One of the oldest Roblox game types.

An early test version that the public can use before the finished product.

Roblox’s preset chat. Players pick from 30 approved phrases, such as “Follow me”, instead of typing freely.

A free online platform where people play, and make, games built by other users. It launched in 2006. Roblox makes its money when players buy Robux.

A coming feature that will let a Roblox game be released as its own app, outside the Roblox app.

The free software creators have traditionally used to build Roblox games. It needs some coding.

Roblox’s virtual currency. Players buy it with real money and spend it on avatar items and inside games.

Games where players act out everyday life, with houses, jobs, cars and families. Brookhaven is the biggest.

Swapping items between players. Trading items that were paid for is now restricted.

A survival game in which players work together to last 99 nights in a forest.

A long-running game about adopting, raising and trading pets. It is built around a world and its characters, which is why it travels well.

A five-a-side football game based on the Japanese anime Blue Lock. It started as a fan game and is now licensed.

A roleplay town and one of the most visited games on Roblox.

A fashion game in which players style an outfit to a theme and others vote on the result.

FIFA’s official football game on Roblox, run by the studio Gamefam.

A farming game in which players plant, grow and sell crops, and the plants keep growing while you’re away. Built by a 16-year-old, it was one of summer 2025’s two giants.

A cops-and-robbers game, and one of Roblox’s longest-running hits.

A game in which players collect brainrot characters that earn them money, and steal them from each other’s bases. It holds the record for players in a single game.

A fan-made game based on the Warriors books, made official in 2021.

What players spent on Robux in a period, and Roblox’s best single measure of player spending.

How many people are playing at the same moment. This is the standard way to measure a game’s peak.

How many different people play on a given day. Roblox reports a quarterly average.

The scheme that turns the Robux creators earn into real money.

Players can favourite a game and give it a thumbs up or down. The like rating is the share of thumbs up.

Roblox’s own forecast for the coming quarter. “Guided down” means it expects a fall.

The total time spent playing on Roblox. Roblox reports it every quarter, and we divide it by the days in the quarter to get hours a day.

The number of times an ad or branded item was seen.

The same money as bookings, but spread over the time players use what they bought. That is why it moves more slowly.

Independent websites that track Roblox games and items. We use them for figures on individual games.

A single stretch of play, from joining a game to leaving it.

Roblox’s quarterly report to investors, and the main source for platform-wide figures.

The number of times a game has been started. One player can make many visits.

Proving your age by a face scan (an estimate from a short selfie video) or by ID. It has been required for free chat since January 2026.

Six age groups: under 9, 9 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20, and 21 and over. Players can only chat within their own band and the bands either side. Under-9s have chat off unless a parent agrees.

The rating every game must carry, based on a questionnaire about its content. It decides which accounts can see the game.

The curated list of around 30,000 games that under-16s can find. Creators must apply to be in it.

Items bought with Robux where the player doesn’t know what they’ll get, such as mystery boxes or paid spins.

Settings parents use to manage a child’s account, such as chat, spending, screen time and friend lists.

Game design where paying real money gives a player an advantage over others.

The full platform, for players aged 16 and over.

The account for 5 to 8 year olds. Curated games with mild content only, and all communication off by default.

The account for 9 to 15 year olds. Curated games with up to moderate content, and parents control chat.

An extra security step when logging in, such as a code sent to a phone.

The ways a brand can pay to appear on Roblox: homepage features, sponsored games, billboards, portal ads, rewarded video and brand integrations. See “Every way in” above.

The standard tag every paid brand presence must carry, so players can tell it is an ad.

A Roblox scheme that links real products to avatar items, so buying the toy unlocks the digital version.

Ads targeted using data about a person’s past behaviour. Banned on Roblox for anyone under 18.

A brand’s product, character or event built into someone else’s popular game. Since May 2026 it counts as an ad.

Roblox’s tools, powered by Shopify, that let a game sell real physical products without leaving the game. US only, 13 and over (18 and over in Texas).

Choosing where an ad appears from what the game is about, not who the player is. The only targeting allowed for under-13s.

From January 2027, Roblox’s charge to a game’s creator on every brand integration, per 1,000 visits, which the creator will pass on to the brand. It is high for the first 28 days and low after that.

A game a brand builds and runs itself, rather than appearing in someone else’s.

A billboard with a door that takes players into a brand’s game, with a way back.

Buying ads automatically through ad-trading systems. Not allowed for under-13s on Roblox.

A short video a player chooses to watch in return for an in-game reward. Not allowed for under-13s.

Roblox’s sales partner for ads to under-13s.

Since 5 January 2026, paid online ads for identifiable less healthy food and drink are banned in the UK at any time, including paid placements inside games.

The person or studio that makes a Roblox game or item. Many are teenagers, and some are now large studios.

An unofficial game made by fans using someone else’s characters or world.

Characters, worlds and brands that someone owns and can license, such as a film, a book series or a game.

Roblox’s system, self-serve since November 2025, that lets rights holders license their IP to creators, including fan games that already exist. Revenue shares are typically 10 to 25%.

Characters born as internet memes, often with unclear ownership.

A studio has paid for the exclusive right to develop a film for a set time. It does not mean the film will be made.

Roblox’s annual conference, where it announces new tools and features.

The cut of a game’s earnings that goes to the IP owner under a licence.

Companies that build Roblox games for brands or run their own hits. Those named here are Gamefam, Twin Atlas and Do Big Studios.

Content made by users rather than by the platform. Almost every Roblox game, and many avatar items, are UGC.

The Netherlands’ consumer and competition regulator, which is investigating how Roblox protects minors.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, which enforces the advertising codes.

Law 15.211/2025, known as the ECA Digital. In force since March 2026, it bans loot boxes in games aimed at, or likely to be played by, under-18s, and requires in-game chat to be restricted by default unless a parent consents.

The UK’s top tier of online services under the Online Safety Act, with the heaviest duties. Roblox sits there alongside Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

A formal promise to a regulator that can be enforced in court if it is broken.

Australia’s online safety regulator.

The UK regulator that enforces the Online Safety Act.

The UK law that requires platforms to protect users, especially children, from harm online.

The top legal officers of US states. Several have sued or settled with Roblox.

The EU’s label, under the Digital Services Act, for platforms with over 45m monthly users in the EU. It brings extra duties, including protecting minors.

We Are Family’s five-stage model of how fandom grows: Ubiquitous & Relevant Exposure, Instant Impact, Levelling Up, Belonging & Community, and Identity Development.

Our view at the end of each section.