Roblox lifts bookings forecast as spending defies tariff uncertainty
May 1 (Reuters) - Roblox (RBLX.N), opens new tab raised its annual bookings forecast on Thursday and beat quarterly results estimates, a sign that spending on its vast library of user-generated videogames was holding up despite economic uncertainty driven by U.S. tariffs.
Shares of the company rose around 5.3% in premarket trading.
The platform has aggressively tried to lure deep-pocketed older players with new game genres including horror to boost in-game spending on virtual items. Analysts say its free-to-play model could also help offset a broader pullback in consumer spending.
Roblox now expects bookings, a measure of in-game spending, to be between $5.29 billion and $5.36 billion for the full year, compared with its prior forecast of $5.20 billion to $5.30 billion.
In the first quarter ended March 31, its bookings rose 31% to $1.21 billion, beating analysts' estimates of $1.14 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Loss per share of 32 cents was also smaller than expectations for a loss of 40 cents per share.
"It's very clear that the search and discovery algorithms are uncovering more and more content and doing a better job of matching that content to the users... as a result, we're finding more users that are engaging on the platform," outgoing CFO Michael Guthrie told Reuters.
Average daily active users, a key measure of engagement, rose 26% to an all-time high of 97.8 million in the quarter, while hours engaged jumped 30%, the most since the first quarter of 2021.
The strong engagement and its vast Gen Z user base have allowed Roblox to break into the advertising market, adding a fresh revenue stream as it battles rivals such as Fortnite.
As part of its platform push, the company rewards developers of hit games to attract more creators and keep its content-engine running.
The Roblox developer community "is on pace to exceed $1 billion of earnings for the full year", CEO David Baszucki said.
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EXCLUSIVE Experts reveal what 30-year-olds should look like now - and why it's changed
Age is just a number - but thanks to beauty treatments, sophisticated skincare routines, the subtle plastic surgery, that number is getting harder to figure out based on how someone looks. Back in the '90s, the face of a 30-something-year-old looked very distinct, but now, age-reducing procedures and modern makeup techniques has made age a lot more ambiguous. Gen Z TikTok users are regularly expressing their disbelief when they discover a celebrity has a '3' in front of their age - such as when fans were stunned to learn Bridgerton star, Nicola Coughlan, was 37-years-old. In March, fans were left stunned over Anne Hathaway's youthful appearance after the 42-year-old showed off her stunning glow at the Moncler Grenoble Fall/Winter 2025 Show, with the actress throwing people into a tailspin thanks to her flawless skin. And in May, Kris Jenner - who is almost 70 - debuted a new look that left fans gushing that she appeared decades younger. Social media has certainly changed the perception of what middle-age should look like. In the past, TV shows like Cheers or Seinfeld very painted a different image of what a person in this 30s looks like, with many of the characters appearing much older than what it is perceived today of people in their 30s. 'The perception of 30 has changed because cosmetic procedures have become normalized, especially on social media,' Dr. Ann Monis, a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist at Medical Anti-Aging told the Daily Mail about the phenomenon. '[Influencers and public figures are sharing] their injectables, skin treatments and surgical tweaks,' Dr. Monis explained. 'That constant visibility shifts what we think is typical for 30.' Dr. Monis added that the shift isn't just cultural, but psychological as well. 'This is happening because repetition changes how the brain sets expectations,' the medical professional explained. 'When someone sees the same kind of edited or altered face over and over, the brain will then start treating that image as the baseline. It becomes the new 'normal' even though it is not natural or accurate.' She said in the past, people tried to dial back the clock all at once, whereas now, due to a combination of accessibility and new procedures, the change is happening slowly and from an earlier age. 'What used to be considered early signs of aging is now something people feel they need to erase before it fully appears,' Dr. Monis pointed out. Dr. Joshua Korman, a board-certified plastic surgeon and founder of Korman Plastic Surgery, based in Northern California, agreed, noting that '30 years ago, 50 really was kind of middle age.' 'I think a lot of times middle age may be 70 now,' Dr. Korman, who has worked as a plastic surgeon for 30 years, continued. Dr. Korman claimed the ideal face of a 30-year-old is: 'No pimples and no wrinkles.' '[People are] turning to technologies and medications to make the skin more rejuvenated, even at a young age, like in the 20s and as people approach 30,' he said. Dr. Korman shared that we age in four ways, which can be remedied through various treatments. 'We age with gravity, volume loss, skin texture and dynamic wrinkles, the wrinkles when we smile,' he explained. 'So there's treatments for each one of those things, and surgical stuff really deals with the gravity.' Dr. Monis noted the normalized surgical approach to halting age has resulted in an unrealistic standard being set and normalized - something she personally has noted. 'Patients will bring in filtered photos, not to say they want to look enhanced, but because they believe that's how people their age actually look,' she revealed. Dr. Monis warned this can lead to people constantly aiming for a version of 30 that 'is not even grounded in reality.' 'The constant exposure to curated faces has trained people to see youth as a polished look, not a stage of life,' she said.
