Roblox gets first local boss in Joel Neoh

Joel Neoh, Roblox’s new managing director across South East Asia and Oceania

Roblox has announced tech founder Joel Neoh as managing director for Southeast Asia and Oceania to cultivate the game’s cultural and commercial presence across the region including Australia.

Noeh joined the gaming platform earlier this month and will serve as the company’s most senior business executive across the two regions, charged with overseeing local strategy and aligning it to the platform’s global priorities.

A key focus of his role will be strengthening Roblox’s creator economy, supporting local creators and developers in scaling their businesses, achieving commercial success and reaching international audiences.

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In the official announcement, Neoh said the region had the potential to become a global hub for digital creativity. “We have an opportunity to help a new generation of creators across Southeast Asia and Oceania turn ideas into experiences, communities and businesses that can reach the world,” he said.

“I believe this region can become one of the most importantcome together through play and creation.”

Roblox is widely regarded as one of the world’s largest online gaming platforms, allowing millions of users, predominantly children and teenagers, to create, share and play games.

According to Roblox’s latest quarterly results, the platform recorded an average of 138 million daily active users globally in the three months to September 30.

Neoh brings two decades of experience building technology businesses across Asia Pacific.

He founded Malaysian group-buying platform GroupsMore, which merged with Groupon ahead of its initial public offering, before going on to lead Groupon’s Asia Pacific operations. He later founded fintech and payments platform Fave, which grew to more than 10 million users before being acquired by Pine Labs in 2021.

Roblox’s vice president of international, Zhen Fang, said Neoh’s appointment reflected the company’s long-term ambitions in the region.

“South East Asia and Oceania are important regions for Roblox within APAC, with a vibrant and fast-growing community of creators and players,” Fang said.

“Joel has built and scaled businesses across the region for two decades and his entrepreneurial experience and strong ties to the local tech ecosystem make him the right leader to guide the next phase of our growth across these regions.”

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