Nice upcoming integration for Roblox users who also happen to own a Meta Quest:
Roblox, one of the largest 3D immersive platforms, will soon be available on Meta Quest, the leading VR headset. Roblox on Meta Quest is available for any user 13 and older.
This opens up another opportunity for developers to create and share their experiences with millions of people instantly on Meta Quest. Roblox developers will be able to bring their existing experiences to Meta Quest or create unique new experiences with VR in mind.
This is a great opportunity for VR developers, inviting them to port their experiences to a much larger audience. (And Roblox already boasts a number of high quality immersive games like Tunneler and Frontlines.)
However, with Quest 2 sales already plateauing at around 20 million, I doubt Roblox will grow the market for the VR headset any further. In fact, Quest usage is already dominated by competing metaverse platforms Rec Room and VRChat -- which also suggests that we probably won't see many Quest users becoming dedicated Roblox users, or vice versa. (Metaverse platforms tend to engender fierce community loyalty, beyond occasional tourist visits to other platforms.)
But both Meta and Roblox corporate heads should also expect more public/political scrutiny coming their way. Top Senators recently enjoined Meta to prohibit its own metaverse platform to teen children:
Two Democratic senators urged Meta this week to suspend a reported plan to offer Horizon Worlds, the company’s flagship virtual reality app, to teens between the ages of 13 and 17, arguing the technology could harm young users’ physical and mental health.
The lawmakers, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, called Meta’s plan “unacceptable” in light of the company’s “record of failure to protect children and teens,” in a letter dated Wednesday to company CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
But while Horizon Worlds hardly has any users (low six figures last we checked), Roblox is massive and mostly kids: Roughly 75% of its user base upwards of 250 million are teens or under 12. So this move only encourages many more kids to use a Meta Quest. (And I doubt even Roblox's "for any user 13 and older" restriction for Meta owners will be strictly enforced.)
So I guess the trade-off for both companies is gaining maybe a few million more users on either side, while also risking an inevitable Congressional hearing.
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