Gaming platform Roblox is making a significant push into the Middle East with the launch of Arabic-language support, a move designed to make it more accessible to millions of users in the region.
The announcement, made on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai, is part of Roblox’s broader strategy to expand globally amid a boom in the creator economy.
Speaking to The National at the event, Roblox chief executive David Baszucki described the initiative as a major step in bridging cultural and linguistic gaps.
“We feel it's so big. We want to really bring people together around the world. Our mission is to connect the world with optimism and civility,” Mr Baszucki said.
With the new language update, users and parents can now interact with the app in Arabic, making it more inclusive for a wider audience.
“Parents who might even want to play with their [children] on our platform can use our Roblox app in either English or Arabic,” Mr Baszucki explained.
Beyond accessibility, Roblox is actively investing in local content creation and digital entrepreneurship.
Every image on our platform, every communication goes through AI systems
Roblox chief executive David Baszucki
The company reported that from 2021 to September last year, its impact on the gross domestic product of the Mena region (including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Qatar) was $15 million. With projected growth of 20 per cent or more next year, the platform aims to expand economic opportunities for creators in the region.
“One could infer more and more people making a living on our platform, literally people who are part of this digital economy, and we think it's growing very rapidly,” Mr Baszucki said.
Roblox’s creator ecosystem has more than 50,000 developers in the UAE alone. Some of these creators have already achieved financial success.
“We have a clothing designer in the UAE who has done over $30 million in sales of clothing on Roblox. We have a coder in Roblox who's working on an experience that's been visited over a billion times,” he revealed.
In a key development for UAE users, Mr Baszucki also confirmed that Roblox is now accessible in the country without the need for a VPN, indicating wider availability and acceptance in the region.
“I was playing with Roblox in my hotel room just locally, complimenting the internet speed of UAE,” he said.
The platform also offers more than just gaming, with digital experiences covering 3D shopping environments, educational simulations and virtual concerts. Last year, Roblox generated more than $4 billion in revenue, Mr Baszucki said.
“What we see happening on Roblox is, sometimes, for young people it's more interesting to build a game than to learn computer science, but when people build games on Roblox, they're actually learning computer science,” he said.
AI-powered content moderation
As user-generated content expands, Roblox is strengthening its AI-driven safety tools.
“Behind the scenes, over the last four years, we developed over 200 AI models that power all of our safety systems, complemented with great humans doing it as well. Every image on our platform, every communication goes through AI systems,” Mr Baszucki said.
One of Roblox’s most notable advancements is its AI-powered voice moderation tool, which has been open-sourced for wider industry use.
“Our voice model that we've trained ourselves, built ourselves, to keep voice safe on the platform … we've open-sourced it, and over 20,000 people are using it,” he said.
Additionally, Roblox has joined the Roost Consortium, partnering with major tech companies like Google and OpenAI to further develop AI-powered moderation tools.
Looking ahead, generative AI will play a larger role in enhancing experiences on the platform.
“So you'll be able to build a Roblox place, prompt AI to bring to life a famous character, and you and I will be able to learn history from that character,” Mr Baszucki said.
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Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
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Tips from the expert
Dobromir Radichkov, chief data officer at dubizzle and Bayut, offers a few tips for UAE residents looking to earn some cash from pre-loved items.
- Sellers should focus on providing high-quality used goods at attractive prices to buyers.
- It’s important to use clear and appealing photos, with catchy titles and detailed descriptions to capture the attention of prospective buyers.
- Try to advertise a realistic price to attract buyers looking for good deals, especially in the current environment where consumers are significantly more price-sensitive.
- Be creative and look around your home for valuable items that you no longer need but might be useful to others.
The years Ramadan fell in May
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
