By Zaheer Kachwala
(Reuters) – Roblox said on Friday it would offer paid video games on its platform and allow its game developers to sell physical merchandise through their games.
The video game company will add the ability to price some games, or what it calls experiences, in real-world desktop currency, it said at a developer conference. Roblox will support a higher revenue share for creators of up to 70%, but it will vary based on the game’s price.
The company said the paid apps will launch on PCs later this year, with plans to expand to all other devices in the future.
The move represents a slight departure from Roblox’s successful and long-standing free-to-play business model, which places an emphasis on purchasing in-game currency “Robux” that can be used to purchase items such as cosmetics and collectibles in the company’s digital worlds.
“By offering our new revenue split for paid experiences, we’re giving our creators another way to earn money on Roblox,” said Enrico D’Angelo, Vice President of Economics at Roblox.
Unlike established video game companies, Roblox relies heavily on user-generated content to drive engagement, rewarding creators who create games that go viral and garner millions of visits to the platform. The company said it paid its creator community more than $800 million in the past 12 months.
Roblox has partnered with Shopify (NYSE:) so individual creators will be able to sell physical products directly from their games early next year.
The company has also partnered with brands like Walmart (NYSE:) and Elf Beauty to launch stores on its platform through which players can purchase real-world products directly.
Roblox’s moves to expand its monetization options could aid the company weather a hard period for the gaming industry, where macroeconomic uncertainty is weighing on discretionary budgets and players are sticking with tried-and-true titles.