Roblox shares have dropped by 20 percent after the platform’s reported daily active users fell short of analysts’ estimates.
For the fourth quarter (ending 31st December), the number of daily active users fell by four percent to 85.3 million compared to the previous quarter, Bloomberg has reported. Wall Street analysts had forecasted 88.4 million. Overall player engagement also declined by 9.7 percent in the same period to 18.7bn hours.
Bookings, the company’s measure of sales, totalled $1.36bn (£1.09bn), also falling shy of its forecast of $1.37bn(£1.1bn).
In an earnings call, Roblox CFO Mike Guthrie noted growth in Eastern Europe was “quite a bit slower” than anticipated, owing to a ban of the platform in Türkiye over child safety concerns.
That ban took place in August last year, with Roblox responding at the time: “We respect the laws and regulations in countries where we operate and share local lawmakers’ commitment to children. We look forward to working together to ensure Roblox is back online in Türkiye as soon as possible.”
Now, Guthrie has stated this last quarter was “the first full quarter where Türkiye has been off”.
On a more positive note, in this quarter Roblox shared a record $281m with its game developers. CEO David Baszucki said in the earnings call this reflected the company’s commitment to paying creators.
Back in 2021, a report by People Make Games accused Roblox of exploiting children as young developers. Roblox Studio head Stefano Corazza further discussed this with Eurogamer last year, with the company later clarifying it does not hire minors.
