Phil Sanderson

What a phenomenal RDC 2025!🔥 This year’s Roblox Developers Conference (held Sept 5–6 in San Jose) was packed with major announcements, and I couldn’t be more excited by the direction the platform is heading: • Roblox Moments: A built-in short-form video feed for capturing highlights and instantly sharing them across the platform, think a TikTok-style discovery tool tailor-made for Roblox. • Creator earnings boost: DevEx rates increased by 8.5%, putting more cash back into creators’ pockets. • Huge growth metrics: Over $1 billion paid out to creators in the past year, with daily active users climbing toward 112 million. • Emerging tech & safety upgrades: From acoustic simulation and hydrodynamic enhancements to emissive mapping, CSG on meshes, and server authority for anti-cheat measures • Infrastructure & community support: A new data center in São Paulo is now live, improving latency for Brazilian users, and the platform is reinforcing its commitment to safety with over 100 updates and better age-based moderation. This year, Lootbloc turned up with some unforgettable moments: • Partner Dinner: We hosted a special dinner for our 60+ partners, an opportunity to connect, eat great food, and relax after a long RDC weekend. • Claw Machine: We partnered with the Roblox Commerce team to have our Lootbloc-branded claw machine featured at their booth, where attendees could win merch • Luau Plushie Launch: We unveiled an exclusive Luau whale plushie with Roblox, themed after the Luau logo that attendees could earn by completing a scavenger hunt at the Luau booth • Co-hosting Quataun party Friday night at RDC where we gave away thousands of plushies, shirts, hats and more to fellow developers. Lootbloc is only continuing to grow by bringing on new partners this year like Piggy, Pls Donate, Murderers vs. Sheriff Duels, Twin Atlas and more! Bottom line: RDC 2025 wasn’t just about big tech announcements, it was a celebration of community and all of the successes this past year. I’m so excited by the possibilities ahead, and inspired by how platforms like Roblox and partners like Lootbloc continue to grow together. Here’s to next year, bigger, bolder, and even more connected.

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Vista Equity Partners and Intel are reportedly leading a $350M+ investment into AI chip startup SambaNova. That’s notable. Software may get the headlines, but hardware is where a lot of long-term leverage lives. As demand for inference and compute accelerates, the companies building the infrastructure behind AI could become increasingly important. We’ve previously offered exposure to SambaNova through StartEngine Private. To those investors: congratulations. As AI scales, where will the next bottleneck (and potential solutions) emerge? 👇 If you’re curious what we’re currently offering, take a look at the link in the comments. *** Investments are in Series offered on StartEngine Private, which may hold shares for the companies listed directly or through an SPV. You are not buying the companies’ stock. Revenue, funding, or valuation may not increase, and profitability is not assured. These securities are illiquid and may trade at lower prices.  Valuations are based on private placements rather than public markets. This report doesn’t imply specific performance or results for impacted investors, and there’s no guarantee that revenue, funding, or valuation will continue to grow for the Company, or that they’ll be profitable. Visit startengine.com/private for more information, and to review risk disclosures. Source: https://lnkd.in/gFDXHnks MAR-13761

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🚀 Breakfast at Nasdaq Yesterday, I had the honor to join an AlphaTON Capital breakfast at Nasdaq. Starting the day in a place where global markets open and ideas become reality set the perfect tone for what followed. 🌐 A Window Into the Open Network Future Hearing Brittany Kaiser and Enzo Villani talk about digital sovereignty, open networks and the scale of the Telegram ecosystem was energizing in the best way. It felt less like theory and more like a shift already in motion. One billion users, decentralized infrastructure and a new kind of participation on the internet. There is something very real taking shape here. I walked out thinking about how these systems can transform not just finance, but learning, access and inclusion. 🎮 And yes… we made a fan game And because at Breshna we build when we get inspired, we created a tiny tribute called TON Treasure Trail. A light, fun game where you race through the open network catching the “gems” of decentralization, speed, scale and privacy. A small nod to the opportunity AlphaTON is helping shape. ⚡ Why this matters to us We believe games can do so much more than entertain. They can teach, spark curiosity and empower people to participate in new systems. That is why we are excited about Telegram mini apps. They offer a powerful distribution channel for: • Financial literacy • Health awareness • Youth empowerment • Community-driven learning Play that has purpose, inside platforms people already use daily. 🌍 Proof this model works Earlier this year, we partnered with a telco super app in Pakistan. The results: • 400 games in under 7 months • 1.45 million plays • 1200 plus days of gameplay time Accessible creation + distribution = engagement at scale. 🎯 What comes next Gaming on Telegram is just getting started. And the future looks like: Play with meaning. Create without friction. Participate without permission. We are excited to bring our no-code game engine and purposeful game experiences to this ecosystem. Big thanks to the AlphaTON team for a thoughtful and energizing morning. Grateful to be learning, building and showing up where the future is unfolding. Onward. Link to the game ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eH5mQtEs Sandra Ditore Jennifer de Broglie Wes Levitt, CFA Yury Mitin William De Ath

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85 companies. One goal: make crypto payments work in the real world. Turnkey is joining Mastercard's Crypto Partner Program - and I genuinely think this is one of the most important coalitions in payments right now. Stablecoins and tokenized assets are ready. The rails are being built. But none of it scales without secure, compliant wallet infrastructure underneath. Big things ahead 🚀 🔑 💸

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Dee Jones on Fox 17 Speaking On Parti a Streaming Platform on The Partisia Block Chain. The COO of Parti graduated with a PH.D at Yale University & handled several $1,000,000,000,000 portfolio’s as colleges and universities get to see the benefits and economic benefits of Cryptocurrency & Digital Finances & Universities like Harvard University spending 9 figures on BlackRock ETFs I believe eventually because Parti is launching a Cryptocurrency “Parti Token” and you can stream to earn, 99% of the revenue, Free Speech, Access to global audiences. I believe that Parti is eventually going to be Embraced by communities and countries across the globe not only that. People are going to earn Parti Tokens & Colleges and Universities are going to invest into Parti Tokens & other cryptocurrencies. #Esports #Gaming #Trillions #Billions #GlobalGoals #Parti #UnitedNations

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The Blockchain Revolution Is Coming for the Music Industry In 1997, David Bowie pioneered financial innovation by securitizing future royalties from his first 25 albums, raising $55 million to regain control of his music catalog. Fast forward to today, and we're witnessing the perfect storm for a revolutionary shift in how artists control their work. Imagine if Taylor Swift—whose battle to reclaim her masters became a cautionary tale about traditional record contracts—could leverage Web3 technologies to raise capital directly from fans while offering them actual ownership in her catalog's future earnings. This isn't speculation—it's an inevitable evolution. The market for tokenized real-world assets hit $15.2 billion by late 2024, with stablecoins pushing that figure into the hundreds of billions. The architecture now exists for musicians to create fractional ownership models with instant global liquidity, smart contract-based royalty distributions, and secondary markets from day one. Legacy record companies must recognize that blockchain technology eliminates their primary leverage over artists: control of capital and distribution. While platforms like Royal and Audius have experimented with tokenized music ownership, mainstream adoption requires better onboarding experiences and infrastructure. Even artists with massive star power like Beyoncé haven't yet cracked the code with traditional approaches to challenging incumbent systems. The breakthrough will come when global artists adopt these tools not as novelties but as default mechanisms for ownership and monetization—cutting out exploitative middlemen who have profited from unfair contracts for decades. The technology exists today for artists to create direct financial relationships with their communities through NFTs, tokenization, and fractionalized ownership models. Swift's struggle to reclaim her masters highlights exactly why the future belongs to blockchain-based solutions that provide transparency, ownership, and fair compensation. Legacy record companies can adapt to this new paradigm of community ownership and fair artist compensation—or they can watch as a new generation of creators builds a more equitable industry without them. #MusicOnChain #ArtistOwnership #Web3Revolution #FairCompensation https://lnkd.in/gyYPbnKS

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We talked with gaming industry executive and consultant Peter Hammon about the controversial "gut-and-amend" process used by backers of California Assembly Bill 831 to put that legislation on the fast track and skip the Assembly committee hearing process. To Hammon, there are two "obvious reasons" why that strategy was employed. 1. ❓ 2. ❓ Read his insights in the link in comments 👇

Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco Summit 2026 has officially kicked off this morning as Steel Media GM Dave Bradley introduced a packed venue to the day’s big show. The conference is starting with a fireside chat between Deconstructor of Fun’s Ethan Levy 🔜 GDC Levy and Second Dinner’s Matt Ricchetti, discussing modern live ops excellence through the lens of the hit game Marvel Snap. PGC San Francisco Summit will host talks with reps from the likes of Discord, Scopely, Sensor Tower, Xsolla, Meta, SYBO, SciPlay and more. Helika and Avalanche will also host a joint Accelerator Demo Day. The showcase caps a 12-week program designed to help game studios build, launch and scale on Avalanche - backed by funding, hands-on mentorship and Helika’s data and publishing support.

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Ludon Lee, a veteran of the digital entertainment field, is launching High Score, a specialized arcade in San Francisco that focuses on a "Play-2-Earn" model. Unlike traditional venues, this establishment allows patrons to engage in skill-based competitions and tournaments to win actual currency. The project aims to help revitalize the downtown district by attracting both residents and tourists to a competitive gaming environment. To fund this venture, the company is utilizing equity crowdfunding, offering various tiers of investment to both accredited and non-accredited individuals. Supporters can gain passive income returns or exclusive gaming perks as the business taps into a rapidly expanding global market. Ultimately, the initiative seeks to merge professional gaming talent with a unique physical destination for social entertainment. https://lnkd.in/gJjmFHz2

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For the first time ever, consumers have spent more in non-gaming apps than in games.  This is a remarkable shift in the app economy.  In 2025, IAP revenue from non-game apps surpassed that from games. Key takeaways:   - Consumers shelled out approximately $85 billion in apps last year.   - This is a colossal 21% yoy increase, and nearly 3x the amount spent just five years ago.   - Generative AI has played a significant role in driving this growth, but it's not the only factor.   - Almost all app genres reported positive IAP revenue growth, indicating a robust monetization landscape that is expanding beyond traditional gaming.  What does this mean for marketers?   - It is a wake up call to rethink your strategies.   - Non-gaming applications are not just add ons, they are pivotal to revenue growth.  As we continue to navigate this evolving space, the possibilities for tapping into this market are immense.  Lets talk about how you are planning to leverage this momentum and ensure your app is part of the non-gaming success story!  

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