Roblox is making a delicate however notable change. After swapping the phrase “recreation” for “expertise” throughout its web site and cell apps in 2021 whereas the Epic Video games v. Apple trial was going down, Roblox is getting extra snug with utilizing the time period “video games” as soon as once more.
“Over time, we’ve realized that ‘experiences’ isn’t an intuitive time period for a lot of dad and mom, older gamers, and recreation builders,” Roblox spokesperson Juliet Chaitin-Lefcourt tells The Verge. “‘Video games’ is clearer and higher displays what Roblox is and the place we’re going.”
One of many Epic v. Apple trial’s main factors was making an attempt to outline what a game is. Roblox sits in a little bit of a center floor: whereas the app itself isn’t a recreation, it permits customers to create gamelike experiences that different customers can work together with. Through the trial, an Apple executive testified that Roblox shouldn’t be considered as a recreation, which was truly sort of a giant deal; if Roblox was seen as a recreation by Apple, it could have needed to adhere to rules that will have made sustaining its iOS app prohibitively troublesome.
Because the trial went on, although, Roblox shifted from utilizing the time period “video games” to “experiences.” The excellence between the 2 was sort of a giant deal on the time; firms like Roblox and Epic have been making an attempt to characterize their platforms as metaverses, and Roblox informed The Verge that the time period “experiences” higher represents “the big selection of 3D immersive locations” on the platform. It might even have been a transfer to try to guarantee that the app wouldn’t be considered as a recreation by Apple.
Roblox hasn’t fully moved on from the time period “experiences.” Its App Retailer description nonetheless primarily options the time period. However Roblox’s homepage is displaying me a bit for “standout video games,” and a Roblox website for developers I discovered includes a bunch of situations of the phrase “video games.”
It’s not the one notable language shift from Roblox as of late; the corporate renamed “buddies” to “connections” in 2025however now it’s switched back to friendstoo.
