Roblox has been trying to turn its giant audience into real ad money since it went public in 2021, but the effort keeps dragging.
The platform pulls in 150 million users who spend two hours a day wandering through virtual worlds filled with billboards, video spots, and branded spaces.
Executives keep saying the ad market is “uncharted and very big,” as David Baszucki put it in 2023, yet four years later, the needle has barely moved.
Roblox even signed a partnership with Google in April, but its most recent filing still called ads “insignificant.” Every quarterly call brings the same questions from analysts, and Baszucki keeps brushing them off by calling ads a long‑term play.
Developers say the problem starts inside the platform itself. They don’t want to build ads into their games because the payouts are tiny.
Bloomberg allegedly spoke with several creators who said ad rates range from a fraction of a cent to 55 cents per thousand visits, numbers they say are too low to bother with. Dario Raciti from Zero Code called those rates “on the lower end” of the gaming world.
Most developers prefer selling in‑game items like the kangaroo eggs in Adopt Me!, which make far more money with less headache.
Ben Spoont from Misfits Gaming said the biggest drag on the ad model is “developer adoption,” because creators want to protect the feel of their games.
Roblox faces pushback from developers and advertisers
Roblox also has a young user base, with one‑third under the age of 13, and sponsors are nervous.
Reid Steinberg from Icon International said his clients won’t touch ads aimed at young kids because of strict U.S. federal rules that limit what marketers can collect or say.
Roblox claims it blocks ads for under‑13 users, but a recent partnership between Dress to Impress and Universal Pictures’ Wicked film was open to anyone over five. Roblox also doesn’t label every ad‑supported game.
This tension grew in 2022 when Truth In Advertising filed a complaint with the FTC. Bonnie Patten, the group’s director, said Roblox keeps claiming it does not market to kids, yet “all children on their platforms are being marketed to,” and many cannot tell the difference between gameplay and ads.
Roblox pointed to its earlier response, saying it has strict standards for developers, rules to protect young users, and zero tolerance for fraud.
Baszucki said in July that advertising is tied to Roblox’s goal of taking 10% of the global gaming market. And in October, Morgan Stanley bumped its estimates for the company based partly on ad potential.
But just one day before that, CFO Naveen Chopra told investors that ads would not meaningfully impact results anytime soon. Roblox is not profitable, and analysts think 2026 could bring slower growth as Roblox rolls out age‑verification tools that might limit new sign‑ups.
Brands test Roblox ads but see limited payoff
Advertisers can buy billboard slots, push sponsored game portals, or pay for rewarded videos, where players watch clips to earn items. Morgan Stanley estimated that rewarded videos could hit $3 billion by 2027. Roblox said developers can now use rewarded videos across the platform as of Nov. 11.
During the metaverse boom, companies like Adidas and Walmart paid developers to build virtual hangouts. Some cases worked, like Chipotle’s Roblox game, where users spent 14 minutes on average, more time than customers spend inside actual Chipotle stores, according to Nick Malaperiman of Spud Farm Marketing. But many branded spaces flopped, including West Elm Roblox, which sat empty for months.
Creators say Roblox keeps 70% of ad revenue, leaving the rest to them. Even top games don’t see meaningful returns. Roblox said Brookhaven, its fourth‑most‑popular game, earns five figures a month in ad money, about $65,000, according to one developer. But top 10 games bring in $2.8 million a month from merchandise, showing how small ads still are.
Advertisers also want better data. Rewarded video ads can rack up huge views as players chase Gucci or Sonic rewards, but brands want proof that this leads to sales. Roblox insists 75% of users notice ads and 87% like rewarded videos. Still, Steinberg said none of his clients want to advertise on Roblox due to weak measurement.
Out of the six largest ad agencies contacted by Bloomberg, only three had any clients on the platform. Yet, as Raciti put it, “there is a lot of interest,” because attention always attracts brands, even if the results are unclear.
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