Roblox, a global online experience bringing more than 90 million people
together through play, and Tencent Holdings Limited, one of the largest
internet companies in the world, today announced a strategic partnership
to help fuel the next generation of Chinese creators.
Roblox is on a mission to bring the world together through play by
inspiring imagination, creativity, and learning through shared online
experiences. Roblox will accelerate these efforts in China through the
strategic partnership with Tencent. Together, the companies will
establish a joint-venture company with an initial focus on education to
teach coding fundamentals, game design, digital citizenship, and
entrepreneurial skills. Based in Shenzhen, the joint venture will create
opportunities for local Chinese developers to leverage the global Roblox
ecosystem, with the ultimate goal of bringing Roblox to China.
“I’m extremely excited to partner with Roblox,” said Steven Ma, Senior
Vice President of Tencent. “We believe technological advancement will
help Chinese students learn by fueling their creativity and imagination.
Our partnership with Roblox provides an engaging way to reach children
of all ages across China to develop skills like coding, design and
entrepreneurship.”
“Tencent is the perfect partner for Roblox in China,” said Roblox
Founder and CEO Dave Baszucki. “They have a deep understanding of the
Chinese market and share our belief of the power of digital creation and
our vision to bring the world together through play.”
To kick-off the joint venture’s new Education Initiative, Roblox and
Tencent announced a scholarship fund to sponsor 15 young creators from
China to attend week-long creator camps at Stanford University this
summer. Taught by iD Tech, the world’s largest and most trusted name in
quality summer tech education, students will create 3D worlds, learn
game design, and practice programming fundamentals using the Roblox
developer tools and Lua code.
Together with the China Association for Educational Technology (CAET),
Roblox and Tencent are calling for applications from young creators
throughout China. Students aged 10-15 can apply to the program, and CAET
encourages teachers to nominate and support students. Applications for
the scholarships can be submitted at https://roblox.qq.com/scholarships/
and winners will be selected by CAET experts. Submissions close on June
14, and scholarship recipients will be notified on June 28.
The first camp will run the week of July 23 with a second session the
week of August 18. Students will be provided food and lodging at the
prestigious Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley,
California.
“Tencent and Roblox are providing an invaluable opportunity for Chinese
youth to learn at a prestigious university. We look forward to Roblox
and Tencent’s continued efforts to fuel the creativity of Chinese
students through local programs,” said Mr. Shang, Deputy of Peking
University School of Education, and Chairman of CAET expert committee.
These efforts are the first of a multi-year investment from the joint
venture that will ultimately reach all connected Chinese students.
Future programs will include local coding camps as well as training
programs for instructors to build customized educational experiences for
their students. The goal of the initiative is to foster innovation among
the next generation of students and teachers who are pioneering STEM
learning and education in China.
Education is a fundamental part of Roblox, and through the company’s
educational programs, kids and teens around the world are learning STEM
skills. Roblox recently added support for Chinese languages and made its
coding curriculum available for free in Chinese.
About Tencent
Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Our
communications and social platforms, Weixin and QQ, connect users to
each other, as well as to digital content and services such as games,
video, music and literature. Our proprietary targeting technology helps
advertisers reach out to hundreds of millions of consumers in China. Our
infrastructure services including payment, security, cloud and
artificial intelligence create differentiated offerings and support our
partners’ business growth. Tencent invests heavily in people and
innovation, enabling it to evolve with the Internet. Tencent was founded
in Shenzhen, China, in 1998. Shares of Tencent (00700.HK) are traded on
the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
About Roblox
Roblox’s mission is to bring the world together through play. Every
month, more than 90 million people around the world have fun with
friends as they explore millions of immersive digital experiences. All
of these experiences are built by the Roblox community, made up of over
two million creators. We believe in building a safe, civil, and diverse
community—one that inspires and fosters creativity and positive
relationships between people around the world. For more information,
please visit https://corp.roblox.com.
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