Roblox Lost Almost $1 Billion in 2022, 85% More Than 2021

The popular online game platform did see an increase in revenue, but the net loss also went up.

By Ahmed Mansoor February 16, 2023

Story Highlights

Roblox Corporation lost $934 million in 2022, making losses 85% more than in 2021.
The game also saw an increase in revenue as it made $2.2 billion, growing 16%.
Active Daily users also went up by 23% compared to 2021, growing to 56 million in 2022.

When we talk about online games which make a lot of money, we can’t leave out Roblox. The platform has over 40 million games and is a cultural phenomenon among people under the age of 16. So, it isn’t a surprise that the app makes hundreds of millions in revenue every year.

However, it has taken a hit this year as the net loss has increased by a significant amount. Roblox lost a record $934 million in 2022, which is 85% more than the net loss the company suffered last year. Even though the revenue also grew in 2022, this increase wasn’t as substantial.

Gaming is a medium for people of all ages, but appealing to kids does bag you a lot of money. We have seen this phenomenon with games like Fortnite and Minecraft. Even if they are free of cost, the under-18 demographic will spend a ton of money to attain cosmetic items in the game.

As a result of this strategy, Fortnite has made profits games can only imagine. It made $5.8 billion in 2021 alone and got almost $10 billion in its first two years of service. Hence, if your title includes the younger demographic, you are bound to earn a lot in revenue.

Probably the best example of this phenomenon is the popular gaming app Roblox. Controlled by the Roblox Corporation, the app has an assortment of over 40 million games and is mainly targeted toward children. Over 67% of its users belong to the under-16 age bracket, with only 14% of Roblox players being over 25.

Roblox is a pop culture sensation among this demographic and had 202 million monthly users in April 2021. So, it is safe to say it has cracked the code by targeting this demographic and being available on mobile devices. However, even the most popular entities in the gaming world have to suffer losses sometimes.

According to the annual 2022 financial report from Roblox Corporation, the company lost almost a billion Dollars this year. To be precise, the company had to suffer a net loss of $934 million in 2022. Compared to 2021, this was a big increase, growing 85% year on year.

In 2021, Roblox lost $504 million in operating costs, which is significantly less than this year’s figure. The summary from the company explained that this increase in loss was due to higher expenses. It has been expanding its operations and as a result, the costs have grown.

Even though the losses increased, the revenue also made a jump in 2022. Roblox made a revenue of $2.2 billion in 2022, which is up 16% from last year. In addition, the bookings also saw an increase this year, as they were up 5% compared to last year.

Daily active users for Roblox also grew this year as compared to 2021. According to the report, the game had 56 million daily users on average throughout 2022. This is a 23% increase when you weigh up these numbers with those in 2021.

Furthermore, the fourth quarter saw a daily active user high of 58.8 million users on average. Compared to Q4 of 2021, this was a 19% increase, which is another win for Roblox. Hence, overall the financial report reflects positively on the company, despite the huge net loss.

David Baszucki, the CEO of Roblox, was also positive about this year, saying that 2022 was a year of “innovation and invention.” He also mentioned how the platform had 65 million daily users this January. Meaning, the future is looking very bright for the online gaming platform.

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