It would appear that Roblox is undergoing something of a branding shift, the timing of which is interesting to say the least. Apparently, the game has silently started to change parts of its verbiage, renaming “game” to “experience” and renaming the “Games” tab of the browser to “Discover” instead.
According to a Roblox spokesperson, this is totally a normal and expected thing to do:
“The term ‘experiences’ is consistent with how we’ve evolved our terminology to reflect our realization of the metaverse. Roblox is an online community where people do things together in virtual worlds, and over the years, we began referring to these worlds as experiences, as they better represent the wide range of 3D immersive places — from lobbies to virtual concerts — that people can enjoy together with their friends.”
While this explanation tracks with references to a metaverse that Roblox has made before, the timing is also curious since the Epic vs. Apple trial has been predicated on how games like Roblox aren’t games at all, an argument raised by testimony from Apple marketing head Trystan Kosmynka when he testified, “I look at the experiences that are in Roblox similar to the experiences that are in Minecraft. These are maps. These are worlds. And they have boundaries in terms of what they’re capable of.”
The definition shift may also have something to do with Roblox’s attempts to make itself profitable, especially considering the revelation that the game is absolutely hemorrhaging money since it went public last year. Whatever the reason, the games aren’t games now, supposedly.
