Baobab Studios Is Turning Roblox Games Into Long-Term Entertainment Franchises

For years, Baobab Studios has occupied an unusual space between animation, interactive storytelling, and games. Founded by veterans from companies like Pixar and Zynga, the studio originally became known for its pioneering VR animation experiences before gradually expanding into broader transmedia storytelling initiatives.

Now, the company is making one of its biggest strategic shifts yet by focusing heavily on user-generated gaming ecosystems like Roblox and adapting popular Roblox experiences into long-term entertainment franchises spanning games, television, film, and community-driven storytelling.

In this interview, Baobab Studios CEO Maureen Fan discusses why Roblox’s evolution into a social platform and cultural ecosystem made it a natural next step for the company, how its background in social gaming and animation uniquely positioned it for the transition, and why the studio believes long-term retention and community engagement matter more than short-term scale alone when identifying franchise-worthy IP.

Baobab Studios has a unique history at the intersection of animation, games, and interactive storytelling. How has your background, from FarmVille to immersive animation, shaped the studio’s long-term strategy?

Maureen Fan, CEO of Baobab Studios: My background has been in both gaming and animation. I was VP of Games at Zynga leading the original Farmville franchise and also worked in animation at Pixar and production for The Dam Keeper, the Oscar-nominated short. 

I love animation, whether it’s film or games because while live action is still constrained by reality, animation is only constrained by the creativity in our heads. When I play or watch animation, I feel invincible. I’m brought back to my 5 year old self when I thought anything was possible. My mission in life has become the mission of our company: “Inspire the world to dream. Bring out your sense of wonder. Make YOU matter.”

That last sentence differentiates Baobab from other animation studios, because we don’t only create passive experiences. We want you, the audience, to matter to those characters. You come back to interact with them and you can change their story.

Over the years, Baobab has explored VR, animation, and interactive experiences. What led to the decision to pivot more directly toward Roblox and user-generated game platforms at this moment?

Maureen Fan: Our plan from day 1 was to become a transmedia studio. We created some of the most viewed experiences in VR, then took those IP transmedia. We struck a first-look film deal with Fox in the 2nd year of our company. 

We care about our audience and making sure we are where our audience is. Our audience is on Roblox and other GenZ UGC platforms so it was a natural place for us to go. Every month, Roblox has more active users than all of Netflix’s subscribers. It also helped that our Head of Product, David Kahn, and I both came from Zynga and were 2 of the first PMs hired there. Our expertise in social casual games made us uniquely able to establish IP on Roblox.

We’ve been creating for these UGC creator platforms for many years now and our Momoguro Roblox games have over 110MM eyeballs. We made a lot of friends in the community over the last 5 years. When we announced that our Momoguro Roblox game was becoming a TV series with Scholastic entertainment, several Roblox devs approached us asking if we could do the same for them. We were excited to do this with those we respected.

You’ve acquired rights to major Roblox titles like Natural Disaster Survival, Barry’s Prison Run, and Deepwoken. What specific signals made these games stand out as long-term franchises rather than short-lived hits?

Maureen Fan: We sought titles that combine reach with retention, deepen engagement, and clear world-building that can carry powerfully into other mediums.  All of these games have been not only played by millions upon millions of players, but also have staying power like Natural Disaster Survival around over 18 years.  It's also important that not only the games are well received by players, but also the creators themselves are invested in their games and keep on supporting the IP. 

Together, the three titles have generated nearly 10 billion visits. The studio’s slate focuses on games with long-term staying power, active multi-generational communities, and strong foundations for storytelling, prioritizing deep, prolonged engagement over short-term spikes.

In your announcement, you emphasize retention and sustained engagement over scale alone. How do you evaluate what makes a Roblox experience “durable” enough to expand into film and television?

Maureen Fan: Our background in social casual games at Zynga plus making Roblox games make us uniquely qualified to identify what makes a game durable. We know which metrics to look at for indicators of longevity. Being a part of the Roblox dev community also matters, because we know which developers love their games and are invested in their IP for the long term. Anyone who works in games knows that understanding how to do liveops is a whole different beast.

For Deepwoken, Natural Disaster Survival, and Barry’s Prison Run they have all been around from 5 to 18 years both retaining players AND attracting new players while Roblox has grown.

Our narrative creative team also knows how to identify if an IP has legs for film and television. Our Chief Creatives include the writer and director of all the “Madagascar” films and the sole Producer of Moana.

Roblox has evolved into a platform where games function more like social ecosystems than traditional products. How does that shift influence how you think about storytelling and IP development?

Maureen Fan: This is why we work so closely with the game developers and the game’s audience. The game is a living, breathing experience that continues to change with the community and culture. Coming from games, we respect the audience in a way those coming straight from legacy narrative may not.

Also, storytelling in social games lives not just in the game itself but in the ecosystem built around the game.  Deepwoken has a vibrant and active discord community that helps shape the story and lore.  Barry's Prison Run and Natural Disaster Survival have grown sub-cultures on YouTube sharing gameplay video and fan-made content.  When thinking about an GenZ IP, its important to cast a wider social net since everything is interconnected.  

Many developers still view Roblox as a “starter platform” or something aimed primarily at younger audiences. How do you see that perception changing, especially with titles like Deepwoken demonstrating deeper systems and long-term engagement?

Maureen Fan: While Roblox’s core audience consists of young audiences, much of this audience continues on Roblox through their late 20’s. Roblox has been around for over 19 years, so multiple generations have grown up playing Roblox games. Some have expanded their gaming interests off Roblox, but others are looking for deeper gameplay and story on the platform and coming back. The range of games is only going to increase over time as players' tastes change.    

Baobab is working directly with original creators on these adaptations. How do you balance preserving the authenticity of community-driven worlds while expanding them into more structured narrative formats?

Maureen Fan: We work closely with the creators and the community to make sure our IP stays authentic to what made them love it in the first place. When we expand the IP, we also get feedback from both the creator and the audience.

Roblox games often thrive on emergent gameplay rather than authored storytelling. What are the biggest creative challenges when translating that into linear formats like film or episodic series?

Maureen Fan: Whenever we approach a new IP, we start by studying and understanding why people love the game and we build a story from there. Whatever we create for film & TV we always make sure we're capturing the magic of the game. We also have an incredible team of storytellers at Baobab.

Looking ahead, how do you see the relationship between user-generated platforms like Roblox and traditional game development evolving over the next 5–10 years?

Maureen Fan: Roblox and other user-generated platforms are already having a profound influence on traditional game development.  The next-generation of gamers are looking for games that feel familiar to what they are growing up playing much like how much games developed in the 1980’s and 90s influenced traditional game development.  Games are becoming more social, more original, community driven, and more varied.  

Sometimes you want to hop into a game for a few minutes with your friends. You may want a “short” experience the way some want short-form content on YouTube or Tik Tok. Other times, you may want to delve into a world for hours. There is room for both. However, we can’t ignore this move towards short form. The top hit songs are also getting shorter.

I feel both can learn from each other. Short form, casual games remind us that the core loop is what matters most. They also remind you that building with your community can lead to something that serves the audience better. Traditional gaming teaches the rich worlds you can create, that audiences can purposely get lost in, when you take the time to delve deeply into character and environment. Then you have titles like Deepwoken who do both!

For developers building on Roblox today, what signals should they be paying attention to if they want to create worlds with long-term franchise potential?

Maureen Fan: The earlier they start asking questions around story, world building, and lore, the easier it is to create franchises with long-term potential.  The more a game can enthrall and engage an audience, the more likely that is to translate to other forms of media.

Maureen Fan, CEO of Baobab Studios