David Baszucki : Founder of Roblox, the Biggest Video Game Building Platform
Video games are the best way to pass time and also good for some brain exercises. But it takes a lot of efforts to create a video game as it is quite a complex task. But what if there be a platform that helps the keen developers to create those video games in some simpler steps? It would be great, Right? Roblox is such a platform that allows its users to design their games, and even play games created by other developers. The platform not only is helping people create their own games, but also establish themselves as tech entrepreneurs. Roblox was founded by American internet entrepreneur David Baszucki in 2006.
Early Life
Baszucki was born on 20 January 1963 in Canada. He completed his high school education from Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. He was an active participant in the extracurriculars of his school and was the head of the quiz team of the school. Later, he joined Stanford University, where he studied engineering and computer science. He then graduated as the General Motors Scholar in electrical engineering in 1985.
Career
Baszucki was always into starting up his own business, so only after four years from his graduation, along with his brother, he founded ‘Knowledge Revolution’ in 1989. Knowledge Revolution produced educational applications for Macintosh users. The first product of the Knowledge Revolution was Interactive Physics, an application that helped users learn Physics. The platform simulated a 2D environment where the users could carry out Physics experiments.
The next year, the company released ‘Working Model’, another application that helped users learn mechanical physics. After building various educational applications, MSC Software, a California based company acquired Knowledge Revolution in 1998.
After the acquisition, Baszucki joined MSC Software as Vice President and the General Manager in 2000. After working for two years in the company, he left the job to start an investment firm named Baszucki & Associates. He even hosted a radio show named KSCO Radio Santa Cruz from February to July 2003.
Founding Roblox
Baszucki was inspired by the success of the Knowledge Revolution, and how popular Interactive Physics had become among the young kids. This led him to start working on a new project in 2004 that would also involve its users in the development work. Baszucki started working on a new project and founded DynaBlocks with Erik Cassel.
Later in 2005, the company was rebranded as Roblox. The official launch of the company and its website took place in 2006. The company produced a creation engine named Roblox Studio that allowed people to create their games and experiences on the platform. The users could also play games created by other developers on the platform. In 2007, the company released a premium membership, i.e. Builders Club, that offered extra features to the subscribers.
The platform became a place to learn and create codes for the teenagers, and it received maximum engagement form the children under the age of 13. In 2009, the company raised a $2.2 million in crowdfunding, and it raised a $4 million in the second round of funding in 2011. In the same year, the company hosted Hack Week, an event for the developers where these developers could present some out-of-the-box ideas.
The company has launched its own virtual currency named Robux, that players use to buy games on the platform.
In December 2012, Roblox released an iOS version of the platform, and in the next year, the company developed a currency exchanging platform, Developer Exchange system, using which the developers could exchange their Robux virtual currency with real-time currency.
In 2015, Roblox then released a new and revamped feature for the game development, ‘Smooth Terrain’, that offered, even smoother game development. The next year, the company also introduced Roblox VR for Oculus Rift that could be used for playing over ten million 3D games available on the platform. Roblox also released a Windows 10 compatible version of Roblox in the same year.
The company even raised a huge sum of $92 million in another funding round led by Meritech Capital Partners and Index Ventures in March 2017.
In 2017, there was a total of 2 million Roblox developers on the platform, and it had over 56 million monthly active players. The collective earning of this year was calculated to be $30 million. The platform has helped many teenagers to make some money for their expenses, many of which have also paid for their college fee with the same money. Developers are even making $50,000 a month through Roblox.
Roblox is one of America’s fastest-growing companies, and it also received the same title from Inc. 5000 in 2016 and 2017. It was also awarded the ‘Economic Development Association (SAMCEDA) Award of Excellence’ in 2017.
Baszucki also received various awards and accolades for his invention, including the ‘San Mateo Visionary Hero Award’ for Roblox’s contributions to education and encouraging kids to code (2015). He was also named as one of ‘100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs’ by Goldman Sachs (2017-18). He has over 15 patents in his name.
Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.