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Roblox

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Roblox
Roblox's logo as of 2017.[1]
Developer(s)Roblox Corporation
Publisher(s)Roblox Corporation
Director(s)David Baszucki
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Xbox One[2]
ReleaseApril 6, 2006
Genre(s)Massively multiplayer online game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Roblox is a user-generated massively multiplayer online social gaming platform developed and published by the Roblox Corporation and released in 2006; the first demos of the game were tested in 2004 under the name DynaBlocks.[3][4]

In the game, players are able to design their own games within the platform, and play other users creations.[5]

As of 2016, Roblox has 30 million active monthly players.[6][7]

Gameplay

One of the default character models
A fourth generation (4.0) Roblox character, a commonly used package.

Roblox allows for the creation of groups. After joining, players can then advertise their group, participate in group relations, and set their primary group.[8]

A car on a road in Roblox Studio 2013
Editing using Roblox Studio 2017

Players can use the programming language Lua to dynamically change the environment of the game.[9] Plugins can also be developed with Lua to be used in Roblox Studio.[10]

Roblox is usually played by using WASD/Arrow Keys, also using your mouse and "Shift Lock". Players could switch between 1st person mode and 3rd person mode. Roblox also allowed players to buy, sell and create items. Shirts, T-Shirts and pants can be bought by anyone, but only players with Builders Club could sell shirts, T-Shirts and pants. Hats, gear and packages, on the other hand, were strictly created ONLY by Roblox admins. Players are allowed to wear at the most of 10 hats, 1 shirt and 1 pair of pants, and carry 1 gear.

Development

Roblox was created by co-founders David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004. Roblox – a portmanteau of the words "robots" and "blocks", launched in beta version that year. The website was officially launched in 2006.[11][12]

In March 2007, Roblox became compliant with COPPA, with the addition of safe chat, a change that limited users under the age of thirteen to communicating by selecting predefined messages from a menu.[13] In August 2007, Roblox added the Builders Club, a premium membership, and applied server improvements.[14]

In December 2011, Roblox also held their first Hack Week, an annual event where Roblox developers work on innovative outside-the-box ideas for new developments to present to the company.[15][16]

On December 11, 2012, Roblox released an iOS version of the game.[17][18] In an interview with Massively, CEO David Baszucki stated he also wanted the game to be available on the digital stores of "Android, Windows, Steam, Mac, Chrome, [and] Amazon..."[19]

On May 31, 2015, a feature named Smooth Terrain was added, increasing the graphical fidelity of the terrain and changing the physics engine from a block-oriented style to a smoother and more realistic style.[20] On November 20, 2015, Roblox was launched on Xbox One, with an initial selection of 15 games chosen by Roblox staff.[21][22] New Roblox games for this console will have to go through an approval process, and are subject to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board standards.[23][24]

In April 2016, Roblox launched Roblox VR for Oculus Rift. At the time of release, more than ten million games were available in 3-D.[25] In June 2016, the company launched a version compatible with Windows 10. While the game has had a PC presence since 2004 with its web version, this is the first time it was upgraded with a standalone launcher built for Windows.[26]

In April 2016, Roblox had 30 million monthly active users, and a peak of 900,000 concurrent users.[27] Around the same time period, the safe chat feature was removed and replaced by a system based on a whitelist with a set of acceptable words for users under 13 years old and on a "black list" for other users. This new system allows users under the age of 13 to create content on the website, which they were not able to do previously.[28]

On January 10, 2017, Jazwares unveiled designs for toys based on Roblox characters. The characters are similar to Lego minifigures, having interchangeable body parts, clothes, and tools. The toys were released on February 5, 2017[29][30]

References

  1. ^ Baszucki, David (January 10, 2017). "Introducing Our Next-Generation Logo". ROBLOX Corporation. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  2. ^ McCaffrey, Ryan (September 24, 2015). "Roblox Helps You Make Your Own Xbox One Games". IGN. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  3. ^ Neil C., Hughes (July 15, 2016). "How This User-Generated Video Game Is Leading The Way With Innovation and VR". Inc Magazine.
  4. ^ Fennimore, Jack (July 12, 2017). "Roblox: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  5. ^ Needleman, Rafe (June 14, 2011). "Roblox: A virtual world of Lego-like blocks". CNET. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  6. ^ Wolverton, Troy (October 20, 2016). "Roblox: Is unusual virtual playground the next Minecraft?". The Mercury News.
  7. ^ Takahashi, Dean (December 20, 2016). "At 10, Roblox surpasses 30 million monthly users and 300 million hours of engagement". Venture Beat.
  8. ^ Sims, Tony (February 7, 2013). "Interview With David Baszucki, Founder & CEO of Roblox". Wired. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  9. ^ "Roblox as an educational program language". Kids Like. December 9, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
  10. ^ McDowell, Guy (June 29, 2009). "Roblox - A Cool Lego-Based Free Virtual World for Kids". makeuseof.com. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
  11. ^ "Roblox Info on BusinessWeek". BusinessWeek. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  12. ^ "Roblox". Keen Gamer. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  13. ^ Dickson, Jeremy (June 23, 2015). "SuperAwesome and Roblox join forces on kid-safe advertising". kidscreen.
  14. ^ LaRouche, Brandon (March 31, 2012). Basic ROBLOX Lua Programming. Double Trouble Studio. p. 237. ISBN 9780985451301.
  15. ^ Milian, Mark (December 2, 2012). "Hackathons move beyond Silicon Valley". SFGate. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  16. ^ Chaykowski, Kathleen (August 31, 2012). "Lua language helps kids create software". SFGate. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  17. ^ Grubb, Jeffrey (December 12, 2012). "Roblox goes mobile in time for the holidays". VentureBeat.
  18. ^ Clark, Matt (December 12, 2012). "ROBLOX Brings Millions of User Created Games to iOS". Mac|Life.
  19. ^ Bryan, Karen (December 26, 2012). "MMO Family: Roblox CEO David Baszucki talks mobile app, plans for the future". Massively.
  20. ^ "Roblox user-generated world moves from blocky terrain to smooth 3D". VentureBeat. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  21. ^ Woods, Ben (September 24, 2015). "Roblox's community-made games are coming to Xbox One". The Next Web.
  22. ^ Grubb, Jeff (September 24, 2015). "Roblox comes to Xbox One, joins Minecraft in the growing player-made content space on consoles". VentureBeat.
  23. ^ Grubb, Jeff (January 27, 2016). "Roblox launches on Xbox One with 15 player-created games — watch us play them". VentureBeat.
  24. ^ Parrish, Robin (September 25, 2015). "Roblox Comes to Xbox One In December". Tech Times.
  25. ^ Gaudiosi, John (April 15, 2016). "This Company Just Introduced 20 Million People to Oculus Rift". Fortune. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  26. ^ Grubb, Jeff (June 10, 2016). "After Xbox One success, Roblox now has a dedicated Windows 10 app". VentureBeat.
  27. ^ Takahasi, Dean (December 20, 2016). "At 10, Roblox surpasses 30 million monthly users and 300 million hours of engagement". VentureBeat.
  28. ^ "Roblox". Australian Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  29. ^ Takahashi, Dean. "Roblox launches toys based on its user-generated games". VentureBeat. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  30. ^ Evangelista, Benny. "Roblox turning user-designed video game characters into toys". Retrieved January 12, 2017.