Why is gaming giant Roblox losing tens of billions in market value?

Roblox isn’t getting the high financial scores that it used to — not even close. 

The popular gaming platform has lost approximately $97.5 billion Cdn in market value over the last year, according to stock market data. The company says the decline is partly because of changes in the games its users play and growing pains as it attempts to attract older gamers — but experts say more could be at play.

“I think there’s actually a lot of things going on,” said Aaron Langille, co-ordinator of the game design and simulation program at Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ont.

“I think it’s sort of a platform getting a little bit older, and maybe making some decisions that didn’t work out.”

Roblox Corporation’s stock price is down approximately 70 per cent compared to this time last year, dropping from $129.63 US ($180.67 Cdn) to $36.96 US ($51.51 Cdn). The stock fell sharply following an earnings call last week where executives reported revenue below company expectations.

If you don’t have iPad-armed kids in your life, Roblox is a gaming and creation platform where users can play games created by other users. Released in 2006, the platform has since grown to 151.5 million daily users and 3.5 million game developers, according to company data. 

Roblox offers racing games, obstacle courses, first-person shooters, platformers, board games and more. The vast majority are multiplayer, where gamers play with or against other gamers.

Roblox gamers tend to be younger. The company, which rolled out identity and age verification for users earlier this year, said in February that of the daily active users who had completed verification, 35 per cent were younger than 13 and 38 per cent were aged 13 to 17, making more than half of all active players non-adults.

CEO David Baszucki and CFO Naveen Chopra told investors last week that Roblox has fallen short of its expectations this year when it comes to getting users to spend — particularly those under 13. They said the shortcoming was partly because of changes Roblox has made in the platform’s game recommendation algorithm, but also because games that are popular now aren’t moneymakers compared to last year’s hits.

“If you just look at the percentage of hours consumed on the platform last year, that was coming from these very large and high-monetizing viral hits — it was very concentrated,” Chopra said on the call.

“Those games did appeal, in particular, to younger users.”

Concerns raised over safety

Roblox, which includes text and voice communication between users, is looking to broaden its appeal to include older gamers. The effort comes as governments, watchdogs and experts have raised concerns about safety of young users on the platform. 

The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre received more than 1,000 reports involving Roblox between 2024 and 2025, according to the Mounties. 

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