EP.66: Into the Metaverse with Dan Sturman - CTO, Roblox
Sep 14, 2023
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Dan Sturman, CTO of Roblox, discusses topics such as turnkey platforms, efficiency in the creator marketplace, Roblox Connect, platform expansion, evolving games for a maturing audience, reaching one billion daily active users, supporting different creator types, and the future of interoperability with blockchain.
Roblox aims to make creation accessible to everyone, integrating more creation capabilities and providing richer experiences and services.
Roblox Connect enables immersive 3D avatar calling, emphasizing the importance of communication tools beyond gameplay in the metaverse.
Roblox's ambition is to reach a billion daily users by focusing on utility, empowering creators, and ensuring access on any device, while also building an economy based on trust and incentives.
Deep dives
The Metaverse as the Next Frontier
The podcast discusses the emergence of the metaverse as the next big technology platform for human experiences on the internet. It explores how companies, technologies, and trends are bringing the metaverse to life. The interview delves into the definition of the metaverse and its importance in reimagining the way people connect in 3D immersive environments that are social and creator-driven. The conversation highlights the emphasis on communication and the role of Roblox in enabling users to enjoy and interact together in shared experiences.
The Vision of Creation Everywhere
The podcast explores Roblox's vision of making creation accessible to everyone, where even users with minimal technical training can become creators. This includes the concept of creation everywhere, where more creation capabilities are integrated into experiences and presented by both Roblox and its creators. The goal is to provide richer and more automatic services and experiences, such as voice communication and real-time translation, enabling a diverse range of interactions and content creation. The conversation also touches on the advanced tools and APIs being developed to empower creators, from individual developers to large studios.
Roblox Connect and the Future of Communication
The podcast discusses Roblox Connect, an immersive 3D avatar calling experience that allows users to have rich communication while being in different locations and on different devices, such as phones or consoles. It highlights the importance of communication tools beyond gameplay in the metaverse and the potential for Roblox Connect to enable new forms of connection and communication among users. The conversation also mentions the availability of Roblox on different devices, such as MetaQuest and PlayStation, and the goal of providing access to Roblox on any device anywhere in the world.
Expanding Beyond Games and Play Experiences
The podcast emphasizes that Roblox is not just about games but about diverse experiences that go beyond gameplay, including music, brand interactions, shopping, education, and more. It discusses the challenge of ensuring that audiences can discover and engage with the right experiences, acknowledging the need for continued investment in discovery, search, and recommendations. The conversation also touches on the importance of enabling individual creators and large studios to monetize and build thriving businesses within the Roblox ecosystem, highlighting Roblox's commitment to supporting creators of all sizes.
The Future Vision: A Billon Daily Users
The podcast explores Roblox's ambitious vision of reaching a billion daily users. It discusses the key factors that need to be in place, including the utility of Roblox beyond gameplay, empowering creators, and making Roblox available on any device anywhere in the world. The conversation also mentions the importance of an economy built on trust, incentives, and rectifying issues, and how blockchain technology might play a role in enhancing these aspects. Overall, the podcast highlights Roblox's focus on user problems and the value users and creators derive from the platform.
This week Yon welcomes Dan Sturman into the metaverse. Dan is a world class technologist, having spent time leading software and engineering teams and departments at IBM, Google, and Cloudera, before taking on his current role as CTO of Roblox nearly four years ago.
Coming off of all of the news and announcements made at last weekend’s Roblox Developers Conference 2023 (RDC23) it’s an incredible time to get to chat with Dan about all things Roblox and metaverse.
During their conversation Yon and Dan discuss the importance of Roblox remaining a turnkey platform, how to enable efficiency in the creator marketplace, the new Roblox Connect feature and what that experience will be like, evolving a platform to match a maturing audience, getting to one billion daily active users, and much more.
Chapters:
Defining the Metaverse (01:15)
What Attracted Dan to the Challenge of Building Roblox (04:32)
Differentiating Roblox as a Turnkey Platform (08:15)
Creation and the Building of Business On Top of Roblox (13:12)
Enabling Efficiency in the Creator Marketplace (19:10)
The Importance of Communication and Roblox Connect (22:28)
Expansion onto MetaQuest and Playstation (30:10)
Evolving the Games and Experiences for a Maturing Audience (33:28)
What Needs to be True for Roblox to Get to a Billion DAU (37:35)
Supporting Different Needs for Different Creator Types to Monetize (42:08)
Blockchain and the Future of Interoperability (45:54)
What is Dan Most Excited About for Next Twelve Months (48:22)
To learn more about the Roblox platform, visit their website.
