There has been some discussion in the community about our move to put ads on Roblox.

We’re experimenting with ads for several reasons:

• Ads are a good way to monetize a site while keeping it free.
• We are validating our per user ad revenue model.

In the future we plan to sell membership to a Builder’s Club that will prevent ads from appearing when you play Roblox (among many other things).

As you can imagine, there are many ways that sites such as Roblox  generate revenue, including advertising, memberships, digital economies, etc etc. We welcome your feedback as we continue to incorporate various revenue generating components into the site. It is our belief that Roblox should be remain free to play for the casual user, while we provide premium services to those who want more. Casual users help to support the site by viewing ads, whereas dedicated users can join the Builder’s Club and support Roblox more directly (in return we will gladly remove ads).

Roblox is a business.  Hardware has gotten cheaper, but it is not free. Roblox has a team of full-time developers, without whom there would be no bi-monthly updates, new features, or bug fixes. Telamon has student loans to pay, Matt has to maintain his race car, Erik has kids to feed, and Builderman is afraid of losing his place in line for a customized double-decker Airbus 380.

– Builderman