Ever since its release, Roblox has attracted players of all ages from around the globe, with its massive platform containing many player-made games of all sorts. From adventure to roleplaying, Roblox is sure to have games that suit the preferences of every player. However, not many players know of its history and background, as well as much other interesting information about this popular platform. Therefore, in this article, we will be taking a look into the top 10 best facts you might not know of Roblox.
Top 10 Best Roblox Facts
1. The idea of Roblox started from Knowledge Revolution
According to David Baszucki’s Roblox blog post, he had met the co-founder of Roblox, Erik Cassel, after Erik graduated from Cornell University, United States. David had just founded a company called Knowledge Revolution, with Erik becoming the company’s Vice President of Engineering.
The company was then acquired by MSC Software, an American simulation software technology company in December 1998. David went on to become the Vice President and General Manager of MSC Software from 2000 to 2002, with Erik taking on senior roles in the company as well, before both of them had left to work tirelessly on the original Roblox product for two years back in the year 1997.
2. David Baszucki is the founder and CEO of Roblox
David Baszucki, more commonly known by his Roblox username – builder man, is an American entrepreneur, engineer, and inventor, he is best known as the Founder as well as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Roblox. In the late 1980s, together with his brother, Greg Baszucki, he developed a program known as Interactive Physics, an educational supplement used to create mechanical simulations.
Knowledge Revolution was based around the distribution of Interactive Physics, with David Baszucki mentioning that the success of Interactive Physics inspired his idea to create Roblox. Originally designed for Apple’s family of Macintosh computers, Interactive Physics has gone on to win multiple awards. NASA has also used the program to support STEM education in their teacher development program.
3. Roblox was first released in 2004 as DynaBlocks
Back in 2004, Roblox, by the name of DynaBlocks, was first released as a beta game. At that time, players of the beta were only mainly the developers of the game themselves. However, in the year 2005, more people were allowed to test the game for themselves. It was not until the year of 2006 when Roblox was officially released to the public.
At the Roblox BLOXcon 2013, during the State of ROBLOXia presentation by Founder and CEO David Baszucki, an early mockup of DynaBlocks’ website was presented, which included a reference to GoBlocks as well. GoBlocks, DynaBlocks, and Roblox were the three names that were considered for the platform.
4. Tickets were a form of currency in Roblox
Tickets, known as “Tix” in short, were a form of currency that was in Roblox. Introduced on 2 August 2007, players could earn Tix through various methods available, for example, players could earn Tix daily by visiting the Roblox website, or do so by having other users visit the Places they’ve made.
Tix could be used to purchase different items on the website’s Catalog or used to purchase player advertisements, although Tix was most commonly used by players to purchase Catalog items.
However, on 15 March 2016, Roblox announced via a blog post that Tix would be discontinued, stating that the form of currency was causing “confusion and delay” among many first-time users of the website. Founder and CEO of Roblox, David Baszucki, also mentioned that the reason for the removal “is not to make more money”, and that the “primary reasons have always been product simplicity, botting, not incentivizing certain behaviors”.
5. The infamous “OOF” sound was actually created by Tommy Tallarico
Any long-time Roblox player will surely be familiar with the iconic “OOF” sound effect heard in games on the platform after players die. The infamous “OOF” sound effect has gained popularity all over the internet, with it being commonly used in memes as well as videos for the added touch of fun and laughter among viewers.
However, unknown to many players, this iconic sound effect was actually made by Tommy Tallarico, CEO of Intellivision Entertainment as well as a long-time game sound creator. In the year 2019, Tommy Tallarico learned that the “OOF” sound was the same as the one had created for the game Messiah, a game released back in the year 2000.
Tommy Tallarico did not actually sue the platform, but simply went into talks with Roblox to settle this copyright issue. In an interview with GamesBeat, Tommy Tallarico mentioned that he is unable to discuss the exact financial details of the settlement made between him and the company. Until now, Tommy Tallarico still has ownership over the infamous sound effect.
6. Construction toys actually inspired the creation of Roblox
Back in 2018, David Baszucki, Founder and CEO of Roblox, mentioned in a tweet that the idea for Roblox was actually inspired by construction toys. As can be seen from the realistic physics in most Roblox games, created in the platform’s own building tool Roblox Studio, it is without a doubt that games on the platform are mostly block-based and come with realistic physics effects.
David Bazuscki also mentioned that Interactive Physics, an educational supplement he and his brother had created in the late 1980s used to create mechanical simulations, along with Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) games and social networking, had all inspired the creation of the popular website.
7. Adopt Me! is the most popular game of Roblox in 2020
According to app business analysis and data website Business of Apps, the popular game Adopt Me! achieved the position of the most popular games of Roblox in the year 2020 with 20.5 billion plays. First created on 14 July 2017 on the platform, Adopt Me! has received a lot of popularity in the year 2020, with a community of 64 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) on Roblox and an all-time high of 1.92 million Peak Concurrent Users.
Some of the other popular games of Roblox in the year 2020 also include Tower of Hell with 10.3 billion plays, MeepCity with 9.3 billion plays, and Piggy with 7.8 billion plays.
8. Roblox users spent a total of about $815 million in 2020
With the COVID-19 pandemic having erupted worldwide back in the year 2020, the amount of time spent by users online from all over the world across different websites has increased drastically, with Roblox not being an exception as well.
According to app business analysis and data website Business of Apps, the quarterly spending of users on the Roblox platform has increased greatly, with users estimated to have spent a total of about $815 million in 2020, a massive increase from the reported total of $544 million in 2019. The second quarter of 2020 reported the highest earnings, with an estimate of $319 million.
9. Roblox paid out a total of about $250 million to game developers in 2020
Ever since the introduction of Roblox’s Developer Exchange (DevEx) program back in October of the year 2013, eligible independent Roblox developers have been able to earn money by creating games on the platform. DevEx allows developers to exchange Robux, the platform’s currency, earned from their games into real money. The exchange rate stands from 100k Robux being exchanged for USD 350, up to 600 million Robux exchanging for USD 2.1 million.
According to app business analysis and data website Business of Apps, Roblox was estimated to have paid out a total of about $250 million to these developers in the year 2020, making it the highest ever amount so far, with the numbers expected to increase annually as more and more developers on the platform begin to receive more popularity for their games.
10. As of 2020, there are 150 million registered Roblox users
According to app business analysis and data website Business of Apps, the year 2020 saw 150 million registered users on Roblox, a significant 50 million increase from 100 million registered users on Roblox back in the year of 2019. The increase was most likely a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that had disrupted the daily lives of people living all around the world, resulting in more and more people spending much more time on the internet in the year 2020. Roblox’s Daily Active Users (DAUs) had also hit an all-time high in the year 2020 with an estimated about 33.4 million DAUs on the platform
That’s all for today’s Top 10 Best Roblox Facts. How many of these Top Roblox Facts did you already know? Let us know in the comment section below!
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