Roblox Bid for Ad Riches Collides With Wary Sponsors, Developers

Roblox Corp. executives have been trying to get advertisers to market their wares in the gaming platform’s virtual worlds since the company went public in 2021.

It’s a chance for brands to reach the 150 million people who spend an average of two hours a day on Roblox. Inside its games, virtual billboards and video ads can tempt the platform’s young audience with images of fast-food hamburgers and trailers for movies like Wicked: For Good. Advertising is “uncharted and very big,” Chief Executive Officer David Baszucki said in a 2023 interview.

Yet four years after the ad push began, ...