“The algorithm doesn’t make or break a game. The game makes or breaks the game.”
At RDC, Nic Hill sat down with John Ciancutti, Chief Growth Officer at Roblox, for a conversation about one of the hardest problems on the platform: helping the right game find the right player.
John explains why Roblox has moved away from optimizing discovery around short-term signals and toward what it calls “lasting value.” In simple terms, the platform wants to reward games people return to, spend time in, share with friends and choose to spend money on. John explains that this is much better than encouraging developers to chase the latest algorithm trick.
That becomes especially important as Roblox pushes further into adult gaming. John sees deeper games and an expanding older audience feeding into each other: better content brings in different players, and a broader player base gives creators a reason to build more sophisticated games.
But showing up does not automatically mean building another branded world. Roblox is built around communities already playing, creating and sharing together. John points to Bruno Mars entering an existing Roblox game as a more interesting model for how brands and talent can participate.
As John puts it: “Roblox, it’s not a place where culture is consumed. It’s a place where culture is created.”
Watch or listen to the full conversation on Brands In Play.
#rdc2026 #roblox #brandstrategy #growthstrategy
Follow John Ciancutti - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jciancutti/
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