Advertising on Roblox: How Gaming Company Leads The Way with Proprietary AdTech

With 2.87 billion gamers worldwide, gaming has become one of the largest mass-market entertainment channels globally. It’s no surprise that advertisers are eager to reach these vast audiences. But companies like Roblox are changing how that happens.

Roblox, one of the world’s largest gaming companies, invests in proprietary AdTech to differentiate itself from competitors. Instead of using third-party advertising solutions, Roblox advertising runs in-house.

What exactly does Roblox’s in-house AdTech look like? Why does it matter for platforms, advertisers, and users? And what trade-offs come with taking full ownership of the advertising stack?

Let’s break down how Roblox approaches AdTech, the value it delivers, and what others in the industry can learn from it.

How Roblox Uses Proprietary AdTech

Historically, advertisers seeking to purchase Roblox ad inventory relied on branded game builds and sponsor activations through the Immersive Ads Hub. They could target audiences on Roblox’s homepage and in-game virtual billboards, mainly to promote in-game activations.

However, the platform has recently changed that pattern. Roblox has turned its Immersive Ads Hub into a powerful self-serve advertising platform. It lets advertisers reach millions of players more easily, without the need for from-scratch development.

What’s included so far?

• Advertisers no longer need to create branded in-game experiences to run Roblox ad campaigns. Instead, they can now buy display ads through an open auction system powered by a proprietary self-serve ad platform.
• Video ad inventory has also been introduced, enabling advertisers to deliver immersive, in-world video spots up to 30 seconds in length. To enhance the sales of these video ads, Roblox has partnered with the AdTech firm PubMatic, allowing brands to purchase video inventory through real-time bidding, targeting users aged 13 and older.
• The platform now supports rich contextual and age-based targeting. Brands can tailor their Roblox advertising campaigns more to a specific audience, event space, and game environment.

Roblox’s direction with these changes is clear. The platform is building a closed ad environment that resembles what Meta or Amazon has done in their ecosystems. The move is not only about diversifying monetization but also about owning and operating an in-house advertising stack.

Who Wins with Roblox’s In-House AdTech Model

Roblox’s decision to roll out in-house AdTech goes beyond adding a back-end upgrade. It pays off across the entire ecosystem, as ad experiences start to work better for everyone involved:

• The platform maximizes revenue and oversight;
• Advertisers leverage more relevant and immersive placements;
• Developers tap into new monetization opportunities;
• Players interact with a non-disruptive Roblox advertisement that seamlessly integrates into the gaming experience.

Here’s how in-house AdTech creates meaningful gains for each part of the Roblox ad ecosystem.

• For Roblox

Owning the full ad pipeline enables Roblox to streamline operations, safeguard user data, and retain the profits that would otherwise be allocated to middlemen. There are no outside fees and no third-party platforms handling user data. This is a significant advantage for a platform serving millions of young players whose sensitive data requires safeguarding.

It also means Roblox ad experiences feel like part of the game world rather than something added on top. This integration strengthens player engagement and protects platform integrity.

• For advertisers

Advertisers can engage, target, and convert the platform’s large user base more efficiently. They also gain complete control over every aspect of Roblox ad campaigns.

The Roblox Advertising Hub enables advertisers to create immersive experiences during moments of active interaction. They engage players by blending ads into in-game billboards, branded items, or videos that reward players. And because Roblox uses its first-party data, ads can be tailored by age or in-game context, with genre targeting coming soon as a full-fledged feature.

With direct access to self-serve capabilities, advertisers design campaigns, choose where and how each Roblox ad appears, and track performance metrics. They bypass third-party intermediaries, gain insights into real-time engagement rates, and adapt campaigns quickly to match in-game behavior and contextual signals.

• For game developers

The developer community can now earn revenue from a Roblox advertisement placed in their game, in addition to selling game passes and virtual items. The platform encourages ad integration that fits naturally into the gameplay, allowing creators to maintain control over the experience.

For those wondering how to advertise your Roblox game, this new model introduces fresh opportunities to monetize without disrupting immersion. While this model opens up real possibilities, it has also sparked some discussion, which we’ll cover below.

• For players

For players, ads on Roblox encourage organic interaction. They blend into the environment and complement rather than interrupt gameplay. Ads offer tangible rewards, enriching the virtual world instead of disrupting the experience.

Many Roblox ad formats are optional, which respects player choice if they opt out of interaction. For younger users, the platform also avoids invasive tracking and irrelevant messaging. Instead, ad targeting is based on context and age, ensuring a safe and engaging experience.

What Can Affect Roblox’s Success?

Changes on a platform like Roblox rarely go unnoticed, especially when they involve advertising in a space designed for younger audiences. As in-house Roblox advertising scales, conversations have begun to emerge around how these shifts impact users, developers, and advertisers.

Several key concerns have emerged as a result:

• At what point does targeting become problematic?

As we already mentioned, Roblox marketing and advertising don’t rely on cookies or third-party trackers. Instead, it uses first-party data, including in-game behavior, age groups, and individual preferences. This approach is privacy-conscious, but it still raises important questions:

• What kinds of signals are being collected, and how transparent is that process?
• How are younger users protected from intrusive profiling?
• Where is the line between personalization and data exploitation?

For a platform with an immense under-13 audience base, context-based advertising must be handled with caution and clarity.

• Will ads remain a part of the digital world, or will they become something players resist?

Roblox ad formats aim to feel natural, but even native ads have limits. For younger players, the line between optional engagement and pressure can blur. If ads feel too tied to progress or rewards, they risk losing their purpose. They should not worsen the very experience they’re meant to enhance.

• How fair is revenue distribution?

As Roblox advertising expands alongside in-house technology, some developers worry they’re losing out. Brand deals that once flowed through them now go straight to Roblox. Many debate that the platform is keeping a bigger share of ad revenue, leaving less for developers. Some large creator studios, for instance, have expressed similar frustrations.

To maintain long-term collaboration, Roblox marketing teams will need to ensure that their growing ad ambitions don’t come at the expense of developers. More precise terms and more transparent revenue-sharing structures could be a solution.

• Does complete control over advertising give Roblox too much influence?

Ads on Roblox are managed using proprietary tools that enable complete control over targeting, measurement, and delivery. Much like Meta or Amazon, the platform cuts out access to third-party tools and data sources.

The result is a closed ecosystem where Roblox enforces its own rules for partners. How does it affect other players?

• Advertisers gain less transparency and have a limited ability to validate data.
• For AdTech partners, it narrows opportunities for integration.
• And for the advertising market, it signals a future where control over media and measurement becomes concentrated in the hands of platform gatekeepers.

If more platforms follow this path, the AdTech market could have fewer opportunities for innovation and less transparency for advertisers.

How Does the Future Look for Proprietary AdTech in Gaming?

As gaming platforms like Roblox take full control of the ad stack, they’re rewriting the rules of how advertising will work in gaming environments. At the same time, the space is open for the latest innovations, including AI, blockchain, and native ad formats.

Proprietary advertising systems are more flexible in applying AI than ready-made tools. Gaming platforms will utilize it to analyze in-game behavior, predict player interests, and adjust ad targeting on the fly within their ecosystems. Blockchain will build trust among players and facilitate transparent transactions within closed advertising ecosystems. Advertisers can use it to verify impressions, clicks, and engagement in real time without relying on external tracking.

Apart from Roblox, smaller gaming platforms will also experiment with in-house AdTech solutions in the coming years. They don’t necessarily need to match Roblox marketing and advertising efforts in scale to succeed with proprietary AdTech. What they need is the right technology partner. One that understands how to build custom advertising solutions from the ground up, aligned with business goals and technical requirements.

Geomotiv helps turn this opportunity into action.

How Geomotiv Steps in

As Roblox redefines in-game advertising through full-stack ownership, other gaming platforms have a chance to follow suit – and that’s where Geomotiv steps in.

We’ve dedicated over a decade to building full-stack AdTech platforms for publishers and advertisers. Our work spans a range of services, from vertically integrated advertising solutions to custom real-time analytics and targeting systems. And we’ve done it for companies that required:

• Independence from third-party vendors;
• Precise control over audience data and monetization pipelines;
• Infrastructure ready for AI and blockchain integration;
• Tools tailored for immersive and interactive environments, such as gaming platforms.

As more platforms follow Roblox advertising lead and build their in-house AdTech ecosystems, the technical requirements shift. It’s about owning the infrastructure that powers ad serving, targeting, and optimization across dynamic gaming worlds. Here’s what it should be based on:

• A hybrid technical stack that unites open standards and custom-built components;
• Scalable architecture consisting of modular components;
• Low-latency performance that maintains sub-100ms response times;
• Advanced technology integration with native support for innovative tools like AI.

We help gaming platforms design and develop proprietary AdTech systems from the ground up, with comprehensive control over every layer of monetization, delivery, and data management.

Final Word

Thanks to Roblox and the experiments of other gaming companies, the industry is set to rediscover advertising within virtual worlds. Instead of interrupting users, ads on Roblox blend seamlessly into the gameplay, creating an immersive experience. This move can forever change how players interact with commercial content, but the results are hard to predict.

If the experiment works, it could become the standard for in-game advertising. If it fails, it may trigger stronger resistance to ads across gaming communities.

Meanwhile, Roblox advertising leads the pack, demonstrating to the industry what is possible when a gaming company develops its own in-house AdTech stack.