The promise and challenge of the future of Roblox in China – Heaven32

In a much anticipated move, the California-based games company Roblox archived for public release last week. One aspect of the future growth of the child-centric and community-centric gaming platform is its entry into China, which it first elaborates on in its IPO prospectus.

Like all game companies entering China, Roblox must work with a local editing and operating partner. And like Riot Games, Supercell, Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Nintendo and many more, Roblox chose Tencent

The partnership, which began in 2019, is built around a joint venture in which Roblox has a controlling 51% stake and a subsidiary of Tencent called Songhua has a 49% stake. The user information

notes that Tencent currently intends to release and operate a localized version of the Roblox platform (罗布 子 思). Internationally, the platform allows people create games and play those programmed by others .

User-generated content is part of what makes Roblox popular with young gamers, but this social aspect almost certainly prevents them from entering China. It is widely believed that the Chinese government has greater control over what is posted on the internet and, in recent times, careful review of game content increased. Industry veteran Wenfeng Yang even speculated that games with user-generated content “never done [their] way to china,Citing the example of Animal Crossing.

Roblox believes that it is “in a unique position” to increase its penetration in China, but that its “performance will depend” on Tencent’s ability to overcome regulatory hurdles. It is unclear what measures Roblox will take to prevent user-generated content from coming into conflict with Chinese authorities, whose appetite for what is allowed can be volatile. Tencent itself was in the viewfinder of regulators

on supposedly “addictive” and “harmful” game content. It also remains to be seen how Roblox ensures that your user experience will not be compromised by the censorship system in place.

Roblox has chosen Tencent as its Chinese partner. / Picture: Roblox

At the most basic level, Roblox says it works to keep users safe through measures designed “to enforce the laws of the real world ”, including text filtering, content moderation, automated systems to identify behaviors that violate the policies of the platform and a review team. The company expresses its optimism in its presentation on getting a regulatory green light from China:

“While Tencent is still working to obtain the regulatory license required to publish and operate Luobulesi [Roblox’s local name] in China, We believe that China’s specific regulatory requirements they will meet. IDuring, Luobu is working to build a strong developer community in China. “

The company is legitimately optimistic. China is the world’s largest gaming market, while Tencent has a proven track record in transforming its social media users into gamers and publishing foreign games. Roblox’s marketing emphasis on promoting “creativity” might also fit well with Beijing’s call for tech companies to “do good,” an order. Tencent responded. From Roblox Chinese website suggests that you are promoting part of your business as a learning and STEM tool and shows that research collaborations with local schools and educators.

Nonetheless, Tencent’s involvement is the elephant in the room at this time of uncertain relations between the United States and China. The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States or CFIUS, which is chaired by the Treasury Department, has questioned the data practices of Tencent-backed game studios in the United States, including Epic and Riot, Bloomberg . reported in September.

Roblox is not exempt. It indicates in the prospectus that CFIUS has “inquired about Tencent’s involvement in us and participation in the Chinese joint venture. Further, he warns that he “cannot predict what effect any further investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States might have on our relationship with Tencent or on changes in US-China relations in general on our ability. to effectively support the Chinese joint venture or on operations. or the success of the Chinese joint venture ”.

The other obstacle that all foreign companies entering China face are local clones. Reworld, backed by major Chinese venture capitalists like Northern Light Venture Capital and Joy Capital, it is. The game is not ashamed of its origin. In a Reddit post in response to the claim that it is “a Roblox scam,” Reworld pays homage to Roblox and admits its product is “built on Roblox’s shoulders,” while stating that he “did not take any Roblox Studio code.”