It’s also got to keep up with competitors like Epic Games, which sets the bar with both its Fortnite character designs and its brand partnerships, which can bring in $50 million in a single go. Given the booming business of selling in-game items, Roblox has plenty of financial incentives to make its virtual fashion scene more sophisticated and life-like. “Self-identity is a crucial pillar of the metaverse, and the ability to precisely customize your clothing to your unique avatar is paramount in personal expression,” Baszucki said in the keynote. Bronstein described the changes as a “huge evolution” of the avatars at the core of the Roblox social experience. The newly announced Roblox avatar updates aim to inject both more customization and more realism into the blocky Lego-like looks that are synonymous with the platform now.

Clothing will fall around avatars and drape naturally, like it would in a more photorealistic game. The first is layered clothing, a visual update that will make avatar outfits more realistic and dynamic, so your favorite Roblox virtual jean jacket will fit your character model whether you’re a humanoid version of yourself or a dinosaur. On Thursday, Roblox announced a few meaningful changes in this direction. “I think people are going to realize Roblox is not just one thing,” Roblox Chief Product Officer Manuel Bronstein told TechCrunch. Still, Roblox is working to make player avatars more life-like and customizable, choices that fit well with the company’s aspirations, both to keep the platform attractive as its young core user base ages up and to enable many forms of self-expression across its endless hub of virtual worlds.

Roblox is known for its blocky, relatively unsophisticated character models and game graphics, but the style hasn’t dampened the company’s explosive growth. In his keynote, Roblox co-founder and CEO David Baszucki outlined plans to spruce up player avatars, introduce new in-game monetization streams and streamline the experience for developers dreaming up the user-generated content that turned the company into a massive success at the intersection of gaming and social networking.

At its annual developer conference Thursday, Roblox painted a picture of what’s next for the fast-growing online multiplayer portal that’s like catnip for kids and teens.

When did roblox first come out?