The Roblox (RBLX) revolution will not be televised. Well, at least not in China. Five months after launching under the guide of LuoBuLesi and a tie-up with Tencent, the immersive 3D world has been shut down in the land of the Great Wall. There's clearly been a data mishap somewhere with Roblox announcing that it was making the “necessary investments" to the way its data is processed.
The good news is that they plan to relaunch a new version, the bad news is they’re not sure when that's going to happen. Its brief time in the Chinese market was not without its challenges, it faced competition from Bytedance owned Reworld, as well as falling foul of China's notorious tech regulations.
On the topic of video games in China, this shutdown comes hot on the heels of Epic Games bowing out with Fortnite, despite making countless modifications to comply with local laws.
Why it matters
The shutdown of Roblox highlights how difficult it is for non-Chinese brands to build and sell digital products in the country. With Chinese regulators dubbing video games as ‘spiritual opium’ it's hard to see how developers can hit that next level in this particular market.
