The Roblox Metaverse: How One Of The World’s Largest Virtual Worlds is Leveraging Crypto

What is Roblox?

Roblox was launched back in 2006 by Roblox Corporation. The founders of Roblox Corporation, Erik Cassel and David Baszucki, had previously founded a software company called Knowledge Revolution, which worked on 2D simulations. The Roblox Corporation initially named their gaming platform DynaBlocks, which was later changed to ‘Roblox’. And the Roblox platform was one of the first to develop the concept of user-developed games and spaces inside the virtual world.

Today, 2.6 million of these ‘developers’ have created worlds inside the Roblox platform. Over time, Roblox has gradually grown into what is known as a ‘metaverse’ rather than a simple virtual gaming platform for reasons that we will explain in the next section.

The Roblox metaverse has already garnered millions of users - far more than its peers across metaverses like Decentraland and Axie Infinity. Roblox’s in-built game production engine, known as Roblox Studio, and its focus on user-generated content such as role-playing games, racing, shooting, and music production might be the reason for its tremendous popularity today. Moreover, the Roblox metaverse’s head start two decades ago has allowed it to build a community of dedicated users and exclusive experiences over the years.

How is the Roblox platform a metaverse?

The idea of a metaverse can be identified with a digital world with interconnected augmented realities (AR) and virtual realities (VR). The term was popularised in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash by writer Neal Stephenson. In the book, Stephenson envisioned a virtual world where people could join by their AR and VR headsets, interact with each other through avatars, and create a digital ecosystem reflecting the real world.

From this perspective, Roblox is a virtual world that can be termed as a metaverse as well. The platform ticks all the boxes that characterise a typical metaverse platform that we know today. Apart from the digital interactive experience it provides to its users, it has also enabled other companies to set up shop in the platform.

For instance, Swedish conglomerate IKEA has opened a virtual store in Roblox and has also hired staff to work there virtually. Another example is the digital streaming platform Netflix, which has created theme parks on Roblox featuring its popular shows. Roblox also uses a similar in-house virtual currency called Robux for all user purchases. All these features and applications make it completely viable to term Roblox a metaverse.

How is the Roblox metaverse leveraging crypto?

The most important way the Roblox metaverse leverages crypto is through the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are tokenised versions of assets such as art, media, or digital content. 

Moreover, in metaverses, NFTs represent avatars, virtual land, or other digital assets. The CEO of the Roblox metaverse plans to integrate NFTs in the future. A popular example is Nikeland, the virtual game world launched by sports corporation Nike in Roblox, which has launched its NFTs as well.

Roblox can also accept crypto payments in the future in regions where it is legal to do so. These are some of the many ways the Roblox metaverse has made good use of the applications of crypto and blockchain.

Summing up

Blockchain technology has the scope to be a catalyst for the metaverse economy. Metaverses have the potential to not just lead to the wide monetisation of their digital assets but also transform the way the world interacts with each other. Meanwhile, blockchain technology will be the enabler for securing digital identities and assets.

Meanwhile, Roblox has been successful in creating a metaverse-like experience without tokenising its assets yet, but by including aspects of tokenisation for rare in-game assets, it can create delight for the web3 community. 

Metaverse platforms like Roblox are a boon for creators, which include individuals, communities, and large corporations, to create their own digital ecosystems. Compared to other metaverse platforms like Axie Infinity and Decentraland, Roblox has provided a far more immersive virtual experience that is enjoyable and sociable, rather than only focussing on aspects of tokenisation and decentralisation. Despite the glitter of ‘blockchain,’ Roblox’s peers could sustain their active users, while Roblox has successfully grown its own user base.  

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