Roblox Weekly: July 16–22, 2023
New Avatar Marketplace updates announced, native support for Apple Silicon, and important information regarding the latest data breach!
Welcome to Roblox Weekly, a newsletter series covering the latest and greatest news, announcements, and events that happen on the Roblox platform. Let’s recap everything that happened for the week of July 16–22, 2023…
Roblox’s Vision for the Creator Economy
This week, Roblox detailed their vision for the creator economy and marketplace, highlighting some of the ways they are working to allow everyone to create and earn on the platform, including new features coming soon. Some of the highlights include…
- By the end of 2023, Roblox plans to allow creators to upload beyond clothing and accessories to include what many feel is an important aspect of their identity — bodies and heads.
- Soon, the Avatar Marketplace will open up to “all verified users who are in good standing.”
- Further out, Roblox wants to see the ability to purchase real-world goods within an experience.
You can read the original Blog post from Roblox here, or check out a more condensed version with all of the highlights below:
⚠️ Action Needed: Data Breach
Roblox was recently made aware that there was unauthorized access to select Roblox user information from a 2017–2020 Roblox Developer Conference invitation list, including Full Name, Address, Email, Phone Number, Date of Birth & IP. Out of an abundance of caution, Roblox will provide some affected users with a one-year subscription to an identity theft protection tool. Please check your emails to see if you have been affected and for more information. For more details, please read the Blog post below:
Native Support for Apple Silicon
Roblox has officially announced the launch of Apple silicon support for the Roblox client and Roblox Studio. This brings improved performance to Mac users with Apple silicon devices. Most users will automatically be updated to the new Apple silicon enabled version of Roblox and Studio on their Macs. To verify if your Mac supports Apple silicon, check out the announcement.
Updated Audio Marketplace
Roblox has updated the landing page of the Audio Marketplace to include new categories such as Genres and Vibes for sorting through music, different Sound Effects, and a list of Trending Audios.
It’s Back: New Prime Gaming Loot Drop!
In the past, Roblox has partnered with Amazon Prime Gaming to give out free avatar accessories every month exclusively for people who are subscribed to Amazon Prime. After a few months break, a new item has released and can be claimed from the Prime Gaming website. The Hungry Orca head accessory is available now through August 15th, 2023.
Coming Soon: Creator Marketplace Reviews
Recently discovered by Roblox Trackers, users will be able to leave reviews under assets on the Roblox Creator Marketplace to give feedback to creators, and give other users insight as to whether it is a valuable asset. The review process will likely use a 5-star rating system. Only reviews from users who have used or purchased the asset will be shown, and the creator of the asset can leave replies to reviews.
Roblox Employees Demand for More Diversity
Over a dozen current and former employees, most of whom requested anonymity over fear of career repercussions, said Roblox’s efforts have not gone far enough to address their concerns about diversity and the marginalization of women and minorities. However, Roblox’s percentage of female workers steadily increased, from 24% in 2020 to 27% in May 2023, according to internal data, while the percentage of female management at the director-or-above level grew from 22% to 30%. In 2022, women were promoted at a higher rate than men. The percentage of employees who identify as White fell from 43% to 36%. Current Roblox employees said the company still has work to do when it comes to supporting women and non-White employees. Read this article from Bloomberg with more details.
Right before this article from Bloomberg came out, Roblox published a Blog post detailing how they are supporting the team and are “committed to making Roblox the best, most inclusive place to work anywhere.”
And that’s a wrap! Thanks for tuning in to this week’s Roblox Weekly. Come back here next week to see what Roblox will be up to next. To keep up to date with the latest and greatest Roblox news, follow Bloxy News on social media.
