Shopify, the self-described “all-in-one commerce platform,” has made the metaverse platform Roblox its “first commerce integration partner.” In other words, Shopify’s checkout service will soon operate inside Roblox’s virtual worlds. Or, to borrow Shopify’s words again, developers, creators and brands that use Shopify will be able to “sell physical items directly within their Roblox games without ever leaving the Roblox platform.”
Readers might recall Roblox from the “Olympic World” that Visa set up on the platform for the Paris Games, from its dealings with brands like Reebok and Vans, or from the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s attempts to regulate the cryptocurrency Ether and its blockchain, Etherium.
According to Business of Apps, in 2023, Roblox generated revenues of $2.7 billion, up 25 percent year-on-year, and disbursed $740 million to creators, or more than ever before. Quarterly revenues have been growing without interruption since Q3 2022. The site’s daily user total amounts to some 65 million.
Roblox went public in 2021, its stock price reaching an all-time high of about $126 late in the year. It is now at about $46, with a market capitalization of about $30 billion.
