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MUMBAI: India’s gaming creators are no longer just playing the game; increasingly, they are finding ways to make the game pay. Creator activity on Roblox is generating measurable economic value, with the number of Indian creators eligible to receive payouts growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 96 per cent between 2020 and 2025, crossing 250 in 2025.
The findings come from the report, Investing in India’s Vibrant Creator Ecosystem: Roblox’s Economic Impact on India’s Video Game Industry, which examines how the platform’s creator ecosystem is contributing to earnings, employment and economic activity. According to the report, creator payouts grew at an annual rate of 72 per cent over the same period, pointing to the emergence of a monetisation opportunity for developers who build and publish games through digital platforms.
The numbers offer a glimpse into a part of the gaming business that often operates behind the scenes. While gaming conversations frequently centre on blockbuster titles, esports tournaments and player numbers, platforms such as Roblox also allow individuals to create experiences, attract audiences and generate revenue. For these creators, the opportunity is not limited to developing a game; it also lies in finding an audience large enough to sustain it.
Among surveyed creators who publish across multiple platforms, Roblox accounted for 61 per cent of their total creation revenue. This suggests that the platform can represent a substantialecosystems. However, the figure relates to the surveyed creators and should not be treated as representative of the entire Indian creator population
The report also highlights the importance of international audiences to the business model. Among surveyed creators, 92 per cent said Roblox helped their games reach international users. Overseas players accounted for an average of 52 per cent of daily active users on their games and 55 per cent of their revenue.
The United States, the United Kingdom and Japan emerged as the leading export markets for these creators. In other words, the audience paying for, playing or engaging with an Indian-developed game need not be sitting in India. A creator can develop locally while drawing a substantial share of their audience and earnings from overseas markets.
That international reach is significant because it changes the potential scale of a creator’s business. Developers are not necessarily restricted to the size of the domestic gaming audience, provided their games can attract users across borders. Digital distribution allows them to reach international players without having to build their own global distribution infrastructure.
For creators, however, international access is only one part of the equation. The ability to turn audience engagement into revenue remains crucial. The report’s payout growth figures suggest that Roblox’s monetisation ecosystem is becoming a more important component of creator activity, although the data do not establish that every developer is earning a sustainable income.
The economic contribution also extends beyond the creators themselves. Access Partnership estimates that Roblox creator activity contributed Rs 123.9 crore to India’s gross domestic product cumulatively between 2020 and 2025. The analysis further estimates that this activity supported approximately 510 full-time-equivalent jobs across the Indian economy in 2025.
The report’s annual GDP estimates show how the contribution developed over the period. Roblox creator activity accounted for Rs 1.8 crore in 2020 and Rs 1.9 crore in 2021. The estimated contribution rose to Rs 5.3 crore in 2022 and Rs 7.4 crore in 2023, before increasing sharply to Rs 76.3 crore in 2024. The estimate for 2025 stood at Rs 31.3 crore, taking the cumulative contribution for the six years to Rs 123.9 crore.
The annual estimates therefore show a substantial increase in 2024, followed by a lower contribution in 2025. The report does not establish a reason for that year-on-year change in the figures, making it important not to interpret the six-year cumulative total as evidence of uninterrupted annual growth.
Employment estimates also varied considerably. The report puts the number of full-time-equivalent jobs supported at 30 in 2020, 40 in 2021, 100 in 2022 and 130 in 2023. The estimate rose to 1,290 in 2024 before falling to 510 in 2025.
These figures represent the report’s estimates of jobs supported in each year, rather than a cumulative count of distinct people employed over the six-year period. They should also not be read as direct headcounts of Roblox employees or creators. Instead, they indicate the estimated employment supported across the economy by the creator activity examined in the analysis.
The distinction matters when assessing the wider impact of digital platforms. Creator earnings are only one part of the economic picture; the activity can also support work and business activity beyond the individuals publishing games. At the same time, the report’s estimates cover a defined segment of the economy and do not measure every job or business linked to India’s gaming industry.
The analysis also acknowledges limits to its scope. Its GDP estimates are based on Roblox creator activity and may understate the platform’s broader economic contribution in India because potential effects, including advertising and societal impacts, were not analysed. The Rs 123.9 crore figure should therefore be understood as an estimate of the economic contribution covered by the study, rather than a complete measure of Roblox’s overall footprint in the country.
The wider opportunity is tied to the accessibility of digital development and distribution tools. Roblox provides free development tools and access to an international user base, enabling creators to build and publish games without having to establish their own distribution infrastructure. Other digital channels, including mobile app stores, offer similar routes for developers to distribute games directly to audiences around the world.
For India’s creator economy, these platforms can provide an entry point into international markets, connecting locally developed content with audiences beyond national borders. But reach alone does not guarantee revenue: a game’s ability to attract and retain users remains central to its commercial prospects.
The Roblox findings provide a platform-specific view of this emerging business, bringing together creator participation, payouts, international audience access, GDP contribution and employment support. They do not measure the entire Indian gaming or creator economy, but they illustrate how game development is becoming a route through which individuals can participate in a global digital marketplace.
India’s gaming creator economy still has room to grow, but the early numbers suggest that the opportunity is about more than playtime. For a growing pool of developers, the real prize is turning creativity into a business that can travel well beyond the home market.
