Roblox to let creators turn games into standalone apps across mobile, PC and consoles
At the Roblox Developer Conference (RDC), the gaming platform announced plans to enable users to join games directly in Chrome by year-end and keep playing in areas with spotty or no internet connectivity.
Vikas SN
September 12, 2026 / 11:23 IST
Roblox will provide the underlying technology and services for these standalone apps
User-generated gaming platform Roblox will soon enable creators to make their games available as standalone apps across mobile, PC, and consoles, expanding the way creators can distribute their games and reach players beyond its flagship app.
The platform will provide the underlying technology and services for these standalone apps, including built-in multiplayer worlds, identity, accounts, social connection, communication, safety and economy.
“Historically, games have been inside of the Roblox app. You launch it and then find the game inside of it…The native standalone apps will allow our creators to go directly to their players,” Nick Tornow, senior vice president of engineering at Roblox, said in a virtual media briefing, ahead of the company’s annual Roblox Developer Conference (RDC) held at San Jose, California.
Since the games are integrated with the platform, Tornow said Roblox could extend their without asking creators to rebuild them from scratch. “Build the game once, it runs in the Roblox app and in standalone apps,” he said.
Joining Roblox games through web browsers
The new Friends chat tab will follow players across games, letting them coordinate and jump into new games together, with voice typing support.
Over the next year, creators will also be able to provide an offline solo play mode in their games alongside a live, multiplayer mode, allowing people to keep playing in areas with spotty or no internet. The capability is expected to be made available by mid-2027, with early access expected shortly.
Roblox is also expanding Build, a generative AI feature that lets users create games with natural-language prompts, to Singapore and Serbia, following its alpha launch in New Zealand.
Since its July launch, creators have used Build to publish around 9,000 games, 71 percent of which were made by creators who had never used the company’s 3D creation tool Roblox Studio.
Build is also adding new tools that give creators more control, including a new asset library, desktop access, and iterative control. Creators will also be able to launch ads for their games from their phones.
Later this year, Scene Generator will enable prompt-to-scene creation across Build and Studio, with more control available in Studio.
Roblox is also expanding what non-playing characters (NPCs) can do on Roblox with two new behaviors coming by the end of this year, including NPCs that can playtest.
Meanwhile, the platform’s discovery ranking system now optimises shorter-form games for younger players and deeper games to older players, looking beyond the first week to the first 28 days and beyond, it said.
Supporting gameplay for a new set of titles
Roblox is also expanding its engine capabilities to support 2D games with a new orthographic camera, animated image containers, and direct sprite-sheet import, along with new UI features including blur, text shadows, and improved gradients.
The company will also add support for more turn-based, asynchronous multiplayer games, with the feature arriving in Studio Beta in October and rolling out fully by the end of the year.
The Moments tab, where players can watch gameplay videos and click to play, has been fully rolled out in the United States. Users will also be able to tap any avatar to buy the items shown.
Roblox’s new financial products
Roblox has also announced a slew of financial products including Roblox Wallet and Roblox Card.
Wallet lets creators earn directly in real currency each business day, and move funds to other Roblox accounts or an external account. The company is partnering with Airwallex to provide wallet services to US-based independent creators 18 and older, with international expansion planned for the year ahead.
Meanwhile, Roblox Card will connect to Roblox Wallet, letting creators spend their available balance anywhere the card is accepted. The company plans to begin rolling it out in 2027.
Roblox stated that creators have earned more than $5 billion on Roblox since 2013, of which $1.7 billion came in the past 12 months. Last quarter, players spent 29 billion hours on Roblox, across more than 180 countries, the company said.
India is among Roblox’s top and fastest-growing markets. Globally, Roblox has 123 million daily active users.
Vikas SN covers Big Tech, streaming, social media and gaming industry
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