Roblox found that 52% of teens spend the same or more time with real-life friends in Roblox and other online games.
Roblox found that 52% of teens spend the same or more time with real-life friends in Roblox and other online games.
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Roblox: How teens are using games to cope with the pandemic

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 4 min

Teenagers who use the virtual gaming world of Roblox say they’re using games to stay in touch with their real-life friends, according to a survey by the company. They’re also playing online games a lot more, and they’re going online with their parents’ permission.

Roblox found that 52% of teens spend the same or more time with real-life friends in Roblox, other online games, or voice/chat programs during the pandemic. The San Mateo, California-based Roblox has more than 120 million monthly active users, and the company said 69% of those surveyed are playing more on Roblox because they’re spending more time at home and have parental approval for online learning.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.