According to the latest Global Digital Economy Forecast, the digital economy is growing faster than the global GDP. This explosive growth is driven by factors such as e-commerce, rapidly advancing AI, increasingly powerful digital infrastructure and the ability to analyze larger datasets faster than ever before. Success in this new economy will require:
- Widespread availability of digital skills such as creation, coding, design, analytics and monetization.
- Education and training that brings these opportunities to anyone.
- Significant advancements in digital safety and security leveraging AI solutions.
The Middle East supports an impressive creator economy, thanks in part to government policies and investments, and is a critical region for the future of companies like Roblox. That’s why we’re happy to announce that the Arabic language is now enabled for the app and website on any device where Roblox is available. This announcement is the result of months of careful work to achieve accurate integration with our AI, text-filtering and moderation safety tools. We’re excited to enable Arabic-speaking users to explore and connect on Roblox starting this month—and, in the future, to create on our Roblox Studio tool in Arabic as well.
Education and training
The children of today will be the digital natives of tomorrow and will need skills we haven’t even begun to imagine. A deep understanding of not only coding and design, but also e-commerce, digital security, moderation and policy enforcement will be critical to their future success. We will need a workforce with the skills required to keep up with the explosive growth of e-commerce, AI tools, cybersecurity and online safety. These skills will enable future generations to stay competitive in the workforce—regardless of where they live or their economic status.
Through technology, many of the barriers that might have prevented young people from acquiring these skills are being lowered. For example, technology such as Roblox Studio enables anyone with access to a PC or Mac desktop device to learn how to code, design and create a digital experience from scratch.
As part of Roblox Studio, our AI Assistant feature enables creation for anyone, anywhere, regardless of their skill level. As their skills increase, creators can receive further support to monetize and grow their business, if they desire. This provides creators with the tools they need to build items and virtual 3D experiences, and a space where creators can connect with top brands and artists. As they create, they learn the skills required to pursue careers in technology, design, or gaming.
Creator economy and e-commerce
Traditional office jobs are no longer the only way to succeed and earn. Worldwide, Roblox is helping fuel the growth of the creator economy and supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs. These creators, who build the experiences, avatars and items available on our platform, live in cities and countries all over the world, with many in regions far from the cities typically associated with technology.
By earning on Roblox, these creators contribute to their local economy. Per our first-ever U.S. economic and social impact report, released last year, the direct and indirect impact of our Developer Exchange Program between 2017 and 2024 was an estimated GDP of $1.2 billion and the equivalent of nearly 18,000 full-time jobs.
According to research by Roblox, together with Access Partnership, we’re seeing similar, early results in the Middle East as well. In light of the ambition and projections of the region, we expect continued growth in the years ahead. Our impact on the GDP of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (comprising the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, and Qatar) has increased by 55 percent year-on-year to $6.05 million. From 2021 to the quarter ended September 2024, the total GDP impact to the MENA region was nearly $15 million. We expect to see an even greater impact once we begin supporting Arabic in Roblox Studio and provide greater access to the learning, creativity, and earning potential to be found.
Read| UAE’s outward investment: Manifesting global economic leadership and AI innovation
Advancements in safetyÂ
Keeping pace with this economic growth requires new technology. In the 1970s, the world began the leap from pen and paper to creating on computers, which has exponentially increased the volume and speed of creation. Today, AI is driving a similar leap, seemingly overnight. As more users from all over the world create—and the volume of content grows proportionally—keeping users and their creations safe becomes a much larger task. As the industry makes even greater strides in ML, LLMs and multimodal AI, we’ll need to leverage these new technologies to moderate content at this new scale.
As we look to the future, we believe this growth will continue. In order to compete in the digital economy of tomorrow, the generations coming up today will need new skills to continue to create, monetize and keep their work and livelihoods safe online. I am optimistic that, through AI innovation and collaboration between governments, industry and educators, we can unleash the creativity of the next generation here, and all over the world.
David Baszucki is the co-founder and CEO of Roblox
