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TOGETHER WITH |
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It's Monday and A Minecraft Movie was just the beginning. In 2027, fans will have a chance to explore Minecraft World, an IRL London theme park based on "the best-selling game of all time." |
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Today's News |
👔 Grown-ups play Roblox, too 🤖 Reddit combats bots 👀 Mark Rober reaches Netflix viewers 👂 4/5 adults have consumed podcasts 🎙️ This week on Creator Upload…
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GAME ON |
 | Roblox wants that grown-up money. |
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Roblox's 18+ usership is growing 50% year-over-year |
The target: Roblox is setting its sights on adult users—and their adult-sized bank accounts. |
According to CEO David Baszucki, Roblox has seen a 50% year-over-year increase in the number of 18+ players on its platform. The exec called that stat "a real great signal for future growth," and said Roblox is actively working to woo older gamers by "reiterating the cultural phenomena" of games like Dress to Impress and Grow a Garden, both of which have been popular across age groups. |
The platform also aims to target 18+ gamers with a "genre expansion" that will include more titles in the sports and RPG categories, since those tend to monetize at a higher rate. |
The context: The missing puzzle piece here is how those adult-targeted games will come to fruition in the first place. Unlike Fortnite, Roblox doesn't develop games internally. Instead, it relies on independent developers to publish their content on its platform. |
It's possible that Roblox will begin sealing deals with devs willing to make certain types of games—or it could launch a creator fund program with cash incentives tied to particular genres. The platform certainly has deep enough pockets for that kind of initiative; during its recent Q4 earnings call, Roblox said it brought in $2.2 billion, a 55% YoY increase. For 2026, it's projecting sales growth between 23 and 29%. |
Of course, if Roblox's user growth figures are legit, developers already have a clear incentive to make games for 18+-year-olds. Those players generally have access to more disposable income than kids, making them an ideal consumer base for devs and Roblox alike. |
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Tribeca Festival's 25th anniversary is almost here. Will you be there to celebrate? |
Since its founding, Tribeca Festival has served as a launchpad for visionary filmmakers and artists. Now, the Festival is coming back for its milestone 25th year. |
Tribeca will return to New York from June 3-14 to celebrate more than two decades of championing storytellers across film, television, music, talks, podcasts, games, immersive experiences, and more. |
Tickets to the 25th Tribeca Festival are available now. |
To mark that milestone event, Tribeca is opening its arms even wider to filmmakers and creators with three innovative programs: |
In 2026, Tribeca TV will now serve as the home for all episodic storytelling, inviting submissions from both independent voices and major studios.
Tribeca NOW will return to its roots with an open call for social media creators and online storytellers.
Tribeca Podcasts will continue to welcome audio storytellers from around the globe, expanding to include audiovisual podcast submissions and a new out-of-competition category.
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From red carpet premieres to exclusive screenings and musical performances, the 2026 Festival will serve as a global destination for the best and brightest in entertainment. |
Choose your pass or festival package now to maximize your Tribeca Experience. |
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰 |
 | Can Reddit beat the bots? |
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Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says "something has got to be done about all the fake / botted content" on his platform. Reddit co-Founder Alexis Ohanian agrees. He just doesn't know "how to sell face-scanning to redditors." (Engadget)
The White House has proposed a federal AI policy framework designed to be "applied uniformly across the United States," thus superseding individual state laws. (The New York Times)
Pinterest CEO Bill Ready has thrown his support behind legislation that would ban users under the age of 16 from all social media hubs—except for Pinterest, which considers itself a "visual search platform." (Engadget)
A newly-issued court order prevents prediction market platform Kalshi from operating within the state of Nevada for 14 days. (Gizmodo)
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CREATOR COMMOTION |
 | Mark Rober's Netflix deal is boosting CrunchLabs sales. |
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Mark Rober is reaching more viewers (and selling more stuff) thanks to Netflix |
The claims: Which platform offers a better deal for creators: YouTube or Netflix? You can probably guess where Ted Sarandos lands on that question. |
In a recent interview with Politico, the Netflix Co-CEO claimed that engineer Mark Rober's CrunchLabs brand got a boost after the YouTuber launched a show on Netflix: |
"What he [Rober] saw was a big increase in his consumer product sales after this first week on Netflix, even though he reaches an enormous audience around the world." | | | | - Ted Sarandos, Netflix Co-CEO |
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While Sarandos didn't offer specific numbers, he has repeatedly argued that Netflix is a business booster for top creators. Last year, he described YouTube as a place where viewers go to "kill time"—as opposed to Netflix, which he presented as a destination where viewers "spend time." The intended takeaway of that juxtaposition, of course, is that even if YouTube produces superior viewership results (as Netflix's own What We Watched data suggests), creators who partner with Netflix benefit in other ways. |
The context: It's not hard to see why Netflix would push that framing. Sarandos wants creators to see as much value as possible in each impression, because if his platform doesn't get that traffic, YouTube will. The exec told Politico that "the connected television market is a zero-sum screen. So whichever one you choose, that's what you're watching tonight. You're going to be choosing [YouTube] at the expense of an RTL or Netflix." |
Of course, YouTube isn't the only other platform buying into the zero-sum viewership game. While Sarandos said TikTok is "not directly competitive for us," he acknowledged that the video app is competing "for attention and time"—and there's only so much of that to go around. |
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POD PEOPLE |
 | Just wait 'til you hear the stats on AI. |
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4 out of 5 U.S. adults have listened to or watched a podcast |
The report: 2025 was a big year for podcasts. Now, thanks to Edison Research, we know exactly how big. |
According to the 2026 edition of the data firm's Infinite Dial report, podcast consumption is not only up, but also becoming more frequent and diversifying across audio and video formats. |
Edison Research surveyed a cohort of Americans over the age of 12 and found that a record number of them—80%—have either listened to or watched a podcast. Most have tuned in recently, too. 76% of surveyed Americans said they listened to online audio in the week leading up to Edison's survey. |
The growth: Those figures build on a wave of momentum that was already visible in last year's Infinite Dial report. One of the key results from Edison's 2025 survey was the growth of podcasting among older consumers. Last year, 38% of 55+ respondents identified themselves as monthly podcast consumers. In 2026, that percentage has jumped to 58%. |
Video podcasting is on the rise, too. For the first time, more than half of Edison's respondents (57%) said that they have both listened to and watched a podcast. |
"Video isn't replacing podcast audio. It's expanding the tent. Whatever your feelings on video podcasts, the data is clear: this is a dual-format medium now." | | | | - Megan Lazovick, Edison Research VP |
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The context: Edison's findings are great news for podcasting professionals—but no matter how big audiovisual entertainment has become, it can't match the market penetration of artificial intelligence. 93% of Americans are now familiar with at least one generative AI brand. That's a level of saturation that podcasting has never reached in Edison's 20 years of reporting on the format. |
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LISTEN UP 🎙️ |
 | Somebody Feed Phil is headed to YouTube. |
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This week on the podcast… |
The episode: On the latest installment of Creator Upload, hosts Joshua Cohen and Lauren Schnipper break down the biggest trends straight out of SXSW 2026. |
Tune into this week's show to find out why Phil Rosenthal is moving his hit show from Netflix to YouTube and delve into the motivations behind Google's new microdrama push. It's all right here on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. |
The survey: Creator Upload wants your opinion! Take this survey to help us understand who's tuning in and what you want more (or less) of from the show. |
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, James Hale, and Josh Cohen. |
