Roblox opens path to run games outside Roblox

Roblox says creators will soon be able to ship games as separate apps outside the Roblox platform, with players also getting the ability to join Roblox games in a browser via a link. The announcements came at the company’s annual Roblox Developer Conference, which also introduced expanded AI-assisted creation tools and a new payments stack aimed at turning creator earnings into spendable money.

The distribution change cuts against the model that made Roblox powerful: a single platform that controls discovery, hosting, identity, and monetisation. Under the plan described by TechCrunch, Roblox positions itself as an engine and account layer even when the game is not “inside” Roblox in the traditional sense. By the end of the year, the company says, a link will be enough to launch a Roblox experience on the web, while creators will be able to make titles available as standalone apps on mobile, PC, and consoles.

Roblox is also widening its generative AI feature called “Build,” which lets users create games using natural-language prompts. The company said it is expanding access beyond New Zealand to Serbia and Singapore, adding desktop support, a new asset library, and more iterative control. Later this year, Roblox plans a prompt-based scene-generation feature that will extend into Roblox Studio, alongside new NPC capabilities, including NPCs that can playtest games.

Payments and extraction sit close to creation. Roblox announced a dedicated Roblox Wallet and a Roblox Card for creators, with the wallet designed to pay out in real money by the end of each business day and allow transfers to other bank accounts. For U.S. users aged 18 and older, Roblox is partnering with Airwallex to provide wallet services, with the company describing plans for broader expansion later.

The company framed the changes against an economy that already moves significant sums. Since 2013, Roblox says game makers have earned more than $5 billion, with $1.7 billion in earnings over the last 12 months. In the last quarter, Roblox said players spent more than 29 billion hours on the platform across 180 countries.

Roblox also outlined product tweaks aimed at keeping users inside its social and commercial loops: a Friends chat tab that follows players across games, voice typing support, and a discovery algorithm that steers shorter-format games to younger users and longer playtime games to older users. In its vertical Moments feed, Roblox said players will soon be able to tap an avatar in a clip and buy items.

Roblox is telling creators they can take their games elsewhere, while also handing them a wallet and a card that keep the money moving through Roblox’s rails.