RELIGION ON ROBLOX: A DISCOURSE ON MEDIATIZATION AND RELIGIOUS MARKET

Muhammad Yusuf Baity, NIM.: 24200011079 (2026) RELIGION ON ROBLOX: A DISCOURSE ON MEDIATIZATION AND RELIGIOUS MARKET. Masters thesis, UIN SUNAN KALIJAGA YOGYAKARTA.

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Abstract

The emergence of the metaverse era apparently has expanded the scope of religious practice into digital environments that no longer serve merely as a medium of communication, but also as social spaces where religion lives. One platform that exemplifies this phenomenon is Roblox, which has encouraged the emergence of religious communities that bring religion into the virtual world through symbols— such as mosques and churches—and practices—such as preaching, religious lectures, and even simulations of worship in the form of virtual experiences. This demonstrates that religion has become part of the Roblox landscape, although in a form that has not yet been extensively explored academically. Therefore, this thesis aims to answer questions regarding how Roblox contributes to the discourse on the mediatization of religion and how the mediatization process unfolds when it intersects with the religious market. This research uses a qualitative approach with the netnography method. Data were collected through participatory observation of religious communities on Roblox, specifically the Indonesian Roblox Council (MARIO) and the Archdiocese of Roblox Indonesia (KARI), accompanied by interviews with community organizers, analysis of digital documentation, and a review of supporting content on the social media platforms used by the communities. This data was then analyzed through Stig Hjarvard’s framework of the mediatization of religion, supplemented by discussions on secularization and privatization. Additionally, religious market theory was incorporated to examine the economic dimensions of this phenomenon. This research found that religion on Roblox does not exist in its native form. Rather, it is shaped by media logic that adapts religious practices into forms suited to the platform’s characteristics, as well as by market mechanisms that influence how providers of religious “products” produce, distribute, and promote their religious activities. There is also a form of “banal religion” that differs from Hjarvard’s formulation, since it contains explicit doctrinal promotion behind the circulation of symbols that seems merely aesthetic. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that privatization and deprivatization occur simultaneously (albeit at different levels), rather than as two sequential stages. Other findings in this thesis also emphasize how the processes of mediatization and the formation of a digital religious market mutually create and reinforce one another. These findings indicate that religion on Roblox is not a decline of religion, but rather evidence of its transformation into new forms that emerge from, and in turn shape, the digital platform environment itself.

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