Roblox is growing up, and bringing the metaverse into clearer focus

If there’s one company that understands the metaverse — virtual spaces in a digital environment — it’s Roblox.

At its annual developer conference, the company announced a flurry of new features to take the platform to the next level, per TechCrunch.

It will start allowing users to express themselves

Roblox is known for its lego-like characters that aren’t exactly aesthetically advanced. Going forward, the company plans to make avatars more customizable, including:

• Layered clothing, which allows outfits to be used dynamically across a range of characters
• Dynamic heads, which allow avatars to change facial expressions that mirror the words they’re saying

The changes will allow Roblox characters to evolve with its users as they get older and more interested in self-expression.

But they’re equally focused on keeping developers happy

The firm announced new features that offer developers more flexibility and monetization opportunities, including:

• Open Cloud, a system that allows developers to build content in 3rd-party tools and connect it to Roblox
• Limited edition items, which developers can sell to users and earn royalties off of (similar to the NFT model)

Both additions give developers more flexibility to build on the Roblox platform and provide users more ways to spend Robux, the in-game currency that can be purchased for actual dollars.

Users and developers are already flocking to the platform

In May, Roblox reported 43.2m daily active users, up 3x since 2016.

Additionally, the company will pay out $500m to developers in 2021, up 700%+ from 2018.

If Roblox can keep growing both sides at that pace, it won’t have to invent the metaverse — its developers and users will build it for them.