Roblox, the $50bn online gaming company that is one of the major global metaverse players, is building a localized Chinese version of the platform after being forced to take down its original Chinese app last month, reports the Financial Times. The “LuoBuLeSi” app, which it launched in partnership with Chinese gaming giant Tencent, was taken down in December just five months after it was released.
On Friday, Roblox said it was making “necessary investments,” including to the way data is processed in its games, as a part of a “number of important transitory actions.” Roblox’s attempt to crack into the Chinese market of 720 million gamers formed one eye-catching part of its initial public offering prospectus for its New York stock exchange listing in March 2021.
The company secured a highly prized and difficult-to-obtain regulatory license through its partnership with Tencent to roll out a China-specific version of the platform with stricter censorship rules for game developers and an emphasis on education rather than entertainment.
You must log in to post a comment.