Roblox has no business in being acquired by Disney
Especially with the promise of virtual worlds playing a key role in the next era of the Internet
Hey, Yon here! Welcome to the first letter of 2023 by Into The Metaverse. Subscribe (free) to get access to every letter and podcast show that I publish.
I wrote a post on Linkedin which sparked an interesting discussion on the topic.
Prof. Scott Galloway made a prediction/bet in a recent letter that Disney will acquire Roblox.
Admittedly it’s a bold prediction but while it is not an unreasonable one to make, I do believe it's highly unlikely Disney will acquire Roblox, not so much because Disney wouldn't want or couldn't pull the trigger on such acquisition (they have the cash) but also, and perhaps more importantly, is that Roblox has little motivation to do so.
Roblox doesn't produce any content, rather it's a platform that provides developers with a:
A capable game engine that enables anyone to create multiplayer 3D games and experiences
A distribution platform to publish and monetize what you build
A social network comprised of nearly 60 million daily active users who spend on average 2.5 a day on the platform
Cloud services and infrastructure that removes the need to build anything back-end systems yourself.
Dave Baszucki and the Roblox leadership team has a grand vision for why and how Roblox will make a huge impact as the Internet evolves into a metaverse, as well as a passionate and dedicated community of developers (millions of them) who build anything they want while also serving brands who seek to establish presence on the Roblox platform.
Last year I made my own (ridiculous) prediction that by 2030 Roblox will have a bigger market cap than Meta/Facebook. I'm likely going to be wrong but nonetheless, the main point is that Roblox is the current category leader of #metaverse-type platforms and has everything working in its favor (although not without challenges).
I wrote more commentary about Roblox in my new year's note + in a previous letter talking about how I assess Roblox in the long-term.
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Into The Metaverse covers companies, technologies and trends that are bringing this promise to life. Yonatan Raz-Fridman “Yon” (founder & CEO of Supersocial) interviews the brilliant minds building for, and investing in, the Metaverse.