Newly Christened Billionaire David Baszucki’s ‘Addictive’ Roblox Is Equal To YouTube Among Gen-Z

“It’s as if we’re running ‘American Idol’ for up-and-coming game developers.”

^To millions of tweens, David Baszucki is much better known as his avatar, “Builderman.” What he built is Roblox, an addictive combo video game/social-media site that rivals YouTube and TikTok for engaging children. “Roblox is an immersive entertainment platform,” Baszucki told Forbes in 2018.

It took off in 2006 when they introduced Roblox Studio, the app that lets its users code and create their own games and simulations.

Baszucki’s company is thriving as kids stuck in the rec room have turned to Roblox to while away the pandemic. In 2020, the San Mateo, California-based startup grew users by 85%, to 32.6 million; hours spent on Roblox’s app and website soared 124%, to 30.6 billion.