2021 continues to be a good year for the hit sandbox game development platform Roblox. Earlier this month, the game managed to shatter its previous monthly player count record, hitting 202 million estimated users across the month of April. From March to April, the game was able to attract an additional 10 million users, likely due to the fact that the base game is free to play and supported by optional microtransactions.
Another major element for this success is the animal raising RPG game, Adopt Me! While the game mode has been available since 2017, it has suddenly hit a surge in popularity likely tied to the recent Ocean Egg update, which helped break its own concurrent player record which saw 1.92 million players check out Roblox's game mode. For all of the popularity, the game has yet to branch out to most platforms including Nintendo's powerhouse hybrid console, the Switch.
Rumors and questions regarding Roblox coming to the Switch have been constant, though developer Roblox Corporation still has nothing to confirm at this moment. During a recent financial call, CEO David Baszucki was directly asked if Roblox would be releasing on more platforms like the Nintendo Switch. Baszucki quickly admitted that launching on the Switch, PlayStation, and even VR devices like Quest make perfect sense long term.
However, the company has nothing to share at the moment about launch dates. While Roblox originally launched for the PC back in 2006, Baszucki confirmed that the mobile platform is the one the company remains focused on for now. To the company, the phone platform is the most difficult form factor for immersion, a challenge the team continues to work on to overcome. That said, Baszucki did admit that pushing Roblox onto other platforms like the Switch are logical decisions.
With the continued surge of Roblox and its player base, moving the game to other platforms may just increase in importance for the company especially with a massive install base for the Switch. The rush of players shows no signs of slowing down, especially with recent reports that Roblox users could make half a billion dollars collectively through the sandbox experience in 2021. Whether or not that comes true is up for debate, though with the recent Roblox Gucci event causing a massive spike in virtual Gucci items like handbags being resold for much higher prices than they were originally being sold at.
Roblox is available now on Android, iOS, Mac, PC, and Xbox One.
Source: Q1 2021 Earnings Call