Roblox’s metaverse is overhyped, a new report suggests

pcgamesn.com:

A new report cautions brands about investing in sandbox game Roblox and other metaverse companies, suggesting that the hype around the metaverse concept may be overblown.

Dubbed “Manifest Metaverse: A realistic look at the next digital frontier,” the report by measurement-driven research agency Essence suggests that, at 54.1 million daily active users for the first quarter of 2022, Roblox remains disproportionally small relative to companies like Twitter, which has 229 million daily active users, and Facebook, which has 1.93 billion.

It also points to a 2021 report from GWI, a consumer insights reporting tool, to support the notion that there’s some consumer confusion around the idea of the metaverse. The report surveyed people in nine markets and found that only 33% of people understood the concept of the metaverse, 37% had heard of it but weren’t sure what it meant, and 30% had never heard of it.

Roblox users tend to be relatively young, the report continues, stating that over half of its users are under 13 years old. However, that statistic may be outdated, as Roblox reported in Q3 2021that 50.4% of its daily active users were older than 13, and recent reports cite continued growthamong older players.

Regardless, as of November 2021, only 30% of Roblox players were at least 17 years old, supporting the implication that the platform’s userbase is relatively young. However, that appears to be changing. Roblox’s Q2 2022 earnings report noted that male and female 17-24-year-oldsare the company’s fastest-growing demographic.

Ultimately, the report argues that the metaverse is “being built for Gen Z, Generation Alpha, and whatever comes after.” But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, Essence points out.

“And just as Gen X