For the first time, Roblox has fewer daily players than it did a year earlier. The platform's latest results show it averaged 138 million daily active users between July and September 2026, down 9% on the same period last year.

That doesn't mean Roblox is emptying out (138 million people a day is still enormous), but it's a genuine first, and the reasons behind it say a lot about where the platform is heading. Here's what the numbers show and what they mean if you play.

What did Roblox report?

Roblox published its third-quarter results on October 29. The headline figures:

• Daily active users: 138 million, down 9% year on year, and the first annual fall in the company's history. It was still up 12% on the previous quarter.
• Hours played: down 15% year on year.
• Players spending money: monthly unique payers fell 16%.
• Bookings (what players actually spent on Robux and items): down 12% to around $1.7 billion.
• Revenue: up 16% to $1.57 billion, because Roblox counts past purchases as revenue over time.

Roblox also expects bookings to fall again this quarter, by 10% to 15% compared with last year. Investors didn't like it, and the share price dropped by around 16% the day after the results came out.

Why are fewer people playing?

Roblox hasn't pinned the drop on any one thing, and last quarter its CEO pointed to seasonality. But one change from this year stands out.

The biggest is safety. Roblox started age-checking players earlier in 2026 and restricting chat features for accounts that haven't been checked. By the end of the quarter, 64% of daily players worldwide had completed an age check, rising to around 75% in the UK and the US. It's the kind of change that makes the platform safer, but also adds friction for younger players in particular.

Who is still growing?

Older players. Roblox says over-18s are now its fastest-growing group, making up 29% of age-checked daily players worldwide and 37% in the US. Daily players aged 18 and over grew 18% year on year.

It's also growing quickly outside the US and Europe, with daily players up 37% in India and 33% in Japan. And for all the headline worry, Roblox says player retention is at its highest level since 2021, so the players it does have are coming back more often.

What does this mean for players?

A few things are likely to feel different over the coming months:

• More age checks. If you haven't done one yet, expect more features to sit behind it, especially chat.
• More games aimed at older players. Roblox is putting more of its marketing behind over-18s, so expect more experiences built for that audience.
• More AI-made games. Roblox says more than 80% of its top 100 experiences now use its AI creation tools, and it's leaning harder into those tools to bring in new creators.

For most players, the day-to-day won't change much. The games, events and codes keep coming, and the end of the year is traditionally a big one for spending on the platform.

Looking for freebies? Our Roblox hub has the latest codes for the biggest games on the platform.