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As Roblox<\/a> bets big on the future of user-generated content, the online game platform ubiquitous in the under-13 age group is staffing up accordingly.<\/p>\n The company announced Tuesday that it has hired former Google Play VP Tian Lim to lead the product team for its creator group, the internal division of the company focused on user-crafted games and experiences<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lim will focus on building out the company\u2019s beginner-friendly ecosystem for creators, which includes many young users dipping their toes into game development for the first time as well as professional game studios<\/a> looking to spin the platform\u2019s dedicated community into commercial success.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited to engage with the passionate Roblox<\/span> community of developers and creators and help build an immersive, safe and civil metaverse platform,\u201d Lim said.<\/p>\n Before joining Roblox, Lim spent five years working on Google\u2019s mobile app ecosystem, Google Play. He served as the CTO of Hulu from 2014 to 2017<\/a> and led teams at both Xbox and PlayStation prior to that, including the team that developed avatars for Xbox Live.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen many different kinds of ecosystems now, from AAA to mobile,\u201d Lim told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n Lim will work with Nick Tornow, another former CTO<\/a> who joined Roblox\u2019s creator efforts last year. Tornow serves as VP of engineering for the company\u2019s creator group.<\/p>\n Roblox puts a huge emphasis on custom games and other virtual spaces made by its community. While traditional social networks figured out the power \u2014 and profitability \u2014 of user-created content more than a decade ago, the gaming world has come around to the idea much more slowly.<\/p>\n User-generated content or \u201cUGC\u201d is on the rise in the gaming world and creative ecosystems like Roblox, Minecraft and Epic\u2019s Fortnite are well-positioned to ride the trend. Roblox \u2014 itself more of a platform than a game<\/a> in any traditional sense \u2014 provides developers with the basic digital tools<\/a> for building whatever they can think of.<\/p>\n In turn, game developers populate Roblox with \u201cexperiences,\u201d the company\u2019s name for the millions of portals it hosts that offer everything from chill hang out rooms to slasher horror games to Gucci-branded interactive art exhibits<\/a>.<\/p>\n While no one can seem to agree on what the metaverse will look like or when it will get here, user-generated content generally factors into that conversation \u2014 and Roblox is no exception.<\/p>\n