All about the metaverse imagined by Roblox

Roblox is an online gaming platform with over 120 million players per month. If you have children of a certain age, chances are they will use it. The growing centrality of online games like Roblox in players' lives has been described by some as the start of a metaverse.

In general, the metaverse is comparable to a type of “connected” digital Internet. It is a virtual manifestation of real reality. It is based on a virtual world like those depicted in "The Matrix".

Just as it was hard to imagine in 1982 what the Internet of 2020 would be like – and harder still to explain it to those who had never even “connected” to it at the time – we don't really know how to describe the metaverse.

However, more and more large companies have started to embark on this technology. And Roblox is one of them. Last month, this platform hosted the Lil Nas X concert with 33 million attendees. She filed a publication request, mentioning the “metaverse” 16 times in S-1. But what kind of metaverse does Roblox want to build?

An immersive co-experience platform

The metaverse imagined by Roblox consists mainly of building an immersive co-experience platform. This environment will bring us together in millions of 3D experiences to communicate, work, play and learn. This company aims to build a rich community, based on shared experiences.

Roblox believes the metaverse should be accessible to as many people as possible. Thus, it is necessary to create different communication capacities according to the context of each user. In realizing its vision of the metaverse, communications security is also at the center of this company's concerns.

The approach to the future of communication on Roblox is based on 3 main points. Above all else, communication skills must be rooted in how we communicate in the real world. This is especially valid during an immersive 3D experience. Second, the limits of physical reality are unrelated to the ways of communicating in the metaverse. Finally, it is crucial to maintain a digitally civil and secure platform.

For Roblox, rules must govern virtual communication. The latter must be subject to the same forms of natural moderation that exist in the real world.

Spatial Voice feature launched

Roblox has launched Spatial Voice as an invite-only beta, a core feature of its metaverse. It is important to note that in its infancy it was reserved for selected members of its community of developers. It is only available to the public from November 9, 2021.

On the other hand, Roblox relies on the collaboration of its community to make it evolve. His wish is to make it realistic, safe and easy for developers to integrate into all Roblox experiences.

Regarding the implementation of Spatial Voice voice chat, communication is adjustable according to the distance between you and the individuals around you. This means that players in close proximity to you will hear you more clearly while those in a significant distance will hear you less.

Additionally, Spatial Voice would include the ability to switch between channels, i.e. a public channel or a group channel. Finally, Roblox has thought about user safety. Indeed, Spatial Here would include security features. Players would be required to report anyone who breaks the rules.

Owning a metaverse stock on Roblox

Facebook/Meta might seem like the obvious choice when it comes to investing in the metaverse. But Roblox also stands out as a metaverse action with strong potential. Remember that this platform connects people of all ages while helping them create unique experiences in an increasingly digital world.

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One of the most popular games in the world

Roblox could be one of the top metaverse stocks to own. Indeed, it is one of the most popular games in the world. In 2020, half of American kids under 16 have played Roblox. To this day, the company's user base continues to grow at a breakneck pace. Part of what keeps kids coming back to Roblox is that it's not just one game. The developers add new games to the platform every month.

Creators are incentivized to create more content for the platform as they earn money if their games become hits. Roblox offers 25% of a game's revenue through its Developer Exchange Program.

Huge revenue

The social aspect of Roblox is also a huge competitive advantage for the company, as kids want to participate in the games they create with their friends. The way the business generates revenue also stands out. Roblox reported third-quarter revenue of $509.3 million, double the year-earlier figure.

Bookings grew 28% year-over-year to $637.8 million. Daily active users increased by 31%. In addition, the hours committed reached 11.2 billion, up 28%. Roblox also updated its terms of service to prohibit sexual and violent content.

Warning: Realite-Virtuelle.com does not act as a financial adviser and only analyzes the situation of the company. Investing remains a risk that everyone must take into account and accept before starting, moreover, following the advice of an authorized professional.

Fortnite, a competitor in the metaverse for Roblox

Like Roblox, Fortnite is a sprawling virtual world where millions of players meet, play games, or attend concerts. He can be a competitor for Roblox. The two are not direct rivals. Fortnite focuses on its battle royale mode designed by Epic. Roblox, on the other hand, is more of a massively diverse collection of fan-made games. Thus, they are competitors in the metaverse.

Roblox has just revealed what will be an overhaul of its current avatar system. The game has long had blocky, iconic but relatively unattractive avatars. Today, it is investing in a much more diverse and customizable roster of avatars.

This should worry Fortnite, which is banking on the idea of ​​pre-made avatars. Epic doesn't allow you to "customize" your look beyond changing your pickaxe or your back. You cannot, for example, design a Fortnite character to look like you. If Epic allows more customization, you can design the avatar you're in love with and stop buying more.

Roblox takes the opposite position and allows you to customize indefinitely, and will sell individual items like hats or jackets for your characters. In the metaverse, the ideal is for a platform to allow full customization like Roblox does at some point. Roblox is on the right track with an extremely diverse customization tool.

The metaverse of Roblox in the education sector

Roblox aims to become a platform that supports teaching and education.

A breakthrough in teaching

Roblox is moving to education for K-12 students. She announced a new $10 million fund to support the creation of online learning experiences. This company wants to play a major role in the emerging metaverse. According to Rebecca Kantar, director of the new Roblox Community Fund, expanding into education is a key way to achieve this.

Its goal is to reach 100 million students worldwide by the end of the decade. Making such inroads with K-12 schools, however, is not a safe bet. Previous online worlds that were popular with consumers, including Second Life, mostly failed with educators.

Yet at least some longtime K-12 market watchers are optimistic in their belief that Roblox can help catalyze the kind of investment needed to make education in the metaverse a reality.

Roblox Studio as a teaching tool

About 7 million users participate in one of Roblox's "learn and explore" experiences every month. A handful of computer science education programs, mostly out-of-school, use the company's development environment, known as Roblox Studio, to teach kids to code their own video games. Additionally, a handful of teachers like Ashlee Vice from Cyber ​​Academy in South Carolina have incorporated Roblox into class projects.

For now, Kantar said, Roblox hopes to expand the use of Roblox Studio as a tool for teaching computer science while encouraging the development of new curriculum materials for topics well suited for teaching. immersive and interactive.

Nike's "NIKELAND" on Roblox

Nike Inc has developed a virtual world inspired by its headquarters on the Roblox Corp video game platform. The digital space, called "NIKELAND", allows players to equip their avatar with special Nike products. Nike is "aiming to transform sport and play into a lifestyle," the sportswear maker said.

Visitors can currently play 'Tag', 'The Floor Is Lava' and 'Dodgeball' on the platform. Thanks to the latter, they can also design their own mini-games using interactive sports equipment. On NIKELAND, it is possible to use the accelerometers of mobile devices to transfer offline movement to online play, allowing real movement in digital space.

The NFL embarks on the metaverse with a Roblox store

The NFL (National Football League) has launched its virtual store on the Roblox gaming platform, effectively entering the metaverse. As a result, football lovers will be able to buy the jerseys and helmets of their favorite teams in the AFC (American Football Conference) division. The developer Melon actively participated in the creation of this virtual store.

Melon is a Roblox-focused developer. He recently revealed his first game in the metaverse, called Jump Kingdoms. He has also created several metaverse-based experiences for music acts and other marketing projects. The company has announced that it has a much larger NFL project in the works which is expected to debut in early 2022.