The Roblox Studio, makers of the world’s largest ‘user-created’ video games, is launching a new property created by the world’s most popular YouTube star, Ryan Kaji.
Kaji is the young star of Ryan’s World, formerly known as Ryan ToysReview, who got his start as a young child doing toy unboxing videos with his dad, and expanded the program to include more educational videos on the YouTube platform. Despite his young age, Ryan has been the number one revenue grossing star on YouTube for years.
Roblox, as a game, seems almost purpose built for a content producer like Ryan Kaji, and it’s a game the young star loves.
“I’ve been playing Roblox since I was three years old, and it’s one of my favorites. I was super excited to create my very own world that all my friends from around the world can join,” said Ryan Kaji. “I hope everyone likes it as much as I do!”
Essentially, Roblox allows players to create their own games using its proprietary engine, Roblox Studio, which can then be played by other users. The gaming platform was created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004, originally under the name DynaBlocks, but wasn’t initially that popular due to a lack of marketing.
However, Roblox began growing rapidly in over the past decade, and as of August this year the platform boasted 164 million active users.
The game is also unusual in the sense it includes games that are developed by its user base, most of whom are children, and those creators can also generate revenue. Roblox Studio estimates creators are now earning a collective $30 million annually from their games, as players can create, buy and sell virtual items.
But as big as Roblox has become, they’ve never had a player like Ryan Kaji on board. In 2019 Ryan was again listed by Forbes Magazine as the top earning YouTuber in 2019, earning $26 million from his 27.4 million subscribers.
Ryan’s World in Roblox launches Saturday, Dec. 5, and it will be the first-ever digital world of such a massive scope inspired and built by a YouTube creator. Kids have the opportunity to interact with their favorite characters from Ryan’s World, and will even play with Ryan himself.
Ryan is celebrating the debut of his digital Ryan’s World experience by hosting his biggest meet-and-greet ever, virtually. During the launch party in Roblox, Ryan and all of the Ryan’s World characters will give away exclusive digital items to players who meet them inside the experience, from free pets to a car specifically designed by Ryan.
Once inside Ryan’s World, fans will also be able to play alongside Ryan, Combo, and the whole Ryan’s World crew, choose their “skins”, take selfies and videos, and discover fun jobs such as firefighter, shop for exclusive gadgets, and challenge their friends to games like hide-and-seek.
“We like to make sure that the Ryan’s World universe remains authentic to Ryan and our entire family – including our YouTube channel content, TV show, and partnerships,” said Ryan’s father and video sidekick Shion Kaji. “Ryan has always been a super-fan of Roblox, so creating an experience on the platform is a natural extension of the Ryan’s World brand. I couldn’t be happier to see him take on this passion project of his that he’s been dreaming of for a long time.”
The deal was put together by pocket.watch, Ryan’s World’s exclusive partner, who see it as a potentially massive win for the franchise.
“We’re excited to be able to bring together kids from around the world who love Ryan, while also bringing the brand to new platforms making Ryan’s World ubiquitous amongst kids,” said Chris M. Williams, Founder and CEO.
”Alignment with our creator partners is incredibly important to us and staying true to this authenticity is a big reason our creator franchises are so successful.”