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Baobab Studios has acquired the exclusive rights to Roblox titles Natural Disaster Survival, Barry’s Prison Run, and Deepwoken for an undisclosed fee.
The Emmy Award-winning animation studio was co-founded by former Zynga vice president of games Maureen Fan, former Pixar technical director Larry Cutler, and Madagascar screenwriter and director Eric Darnell.
Baobab is now actively developing animated feature-length movies and television series based on its slate of Roblox experiences, which it explained have collectively generated around 10 billion visits.
Notably, Baobab CEO Maureen Fan said the company understands what drives success on Roblox and beyond, having previously created its own experiences on the platform.
“We’re not just looking at scale—we’re looking at what sustains,” she explained. “Having built our own Roblox games, we sought titles that combine reach with retention, deepen engagement, and clear world-building that can carry powerfully into film and television.”
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Discussing the company’s interest in Roblox, Baobab co-founder Eric Darnell said the user-generated content (UGC) platform has established itself as an entertainment juggernaut.
“These games have fans who are genuinely invested in these worlds, and that level of engagement is the foundation we’ll build on to welcome new audiences while preserving the passion that already exists,” he added.
Roblox is indeed rather popular. The platform boasted 144 million daily active users and delivered 35 billion hours of engagement during the quarter ended December 30, 2025.
It has, however, also been widely criticized (and litigated against) for allegedly failing to protect young users from child predators and other bad actors. Roblox has continued to implement new safety tools and parental controls in an effort to address those concerns.
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Senior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com
Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton.
