Roblox Slows as Bookings Growth Falls to 8%
The gaming platform forecast a Q3 bookings decline of 14% to 18%.
The online gaming platform Roblox Corporation (RBLX) reported that second-quarter bookings growth slowed to 8%, at the low end of its guidance, as weaker hourly monetization outweighed continued user gains.
The slowdown marked a sharp break from the preceding quarters. Bookings had risen 43% in the first quarter and 63% in the fourth quarter, while second-quarter growth was 7% on a constant-currency basis.
Revenue rose 36% from a year earlier to $1.469 billion, easing from 39% growth in the first quarter. The quarterly net loss narrowed to $185 million from $280 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased to $152 million from $18 million.
Daily active users grew 10% from a year earlier to 123 million, down sequentially from 132 million, while hours engaged rose 5% to 29 billion and declined from 31 billion in the first quarter. Japan and India remained faster-growing markets, with daily active users up 67% and 64%, respectively, compared with 6% growth in the U.S. and Canada. Average monthly unique payers increased 15% to 27 million, though that growth did not offset lower monetization per hour.
Engagement shifted from highly monetizing viral games released in 2025 toward newer and evergreen experiences with lower hourly monetization. Changes including its retention-focused recommendation algorithm and the disabling of cross-experience game-pass sales added pressure. The content base became less concentrated, with the top 10 games accounting for about 20% of hours, while experiences outside that group posted 25% growth in hours.
Infrastructure and trust-and-safety spending increased 54% to $236 million as Roblox invested in artificial intelligence and safety. Creator adoption also expanded: use of AI tools among the top 1,000 and top 10,000 creators rose about 15 percentage points sequentially, and creators generated more than 60,000 three-dimensional assets a day.
Roblox now expects third-quarter revenue growth of 4% to 10% and a bookings decline of 14% to 18%, with the monetization pressure seen in the second quarter persisting. Adjusted EBITDA is projected at zero to $41 million, while free cash flow is expected between negative $60 million and positive $5 million, reflecting fixed-cost deleveraging, additional AI infrastructure spending and a roughly $40 million working-capital headwind.
The board authorized a $3 billion share-repurchase program, including $1 billion intended over 12 months, and Roblox bought back 8.2 million shares for about $380 million during the quarter. The authorization introduced a capital-return program as the company shifted to quarterly-only guidance and prepared for weaker near-term cash generation.