MrBeast tapped a new studio leader after Corie Henson's departure. MrBeast has found a partial replacement for outgoing studio head Corie Henson, two people with knowledge told Business Insider. Justin Killion was named interim head of MrBeast Studios, which encompasses YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson's main channel and its gaming vertical. Henson left earlier in August after about a year in the job. Killion's remit is smaller than hers, as it doesn't include oversight of "Beast Games," the competition show MrBeast is making with Amazon's Prime Video, or WatchTime Studios, a new unit created to make video content that's non-MrBeast centric. Killion reports to Jeff Housenbold, the CEO of Beast Industries, MrBeast's holding company, and is working across Greenville, North Carolina, where MrBeast is based, as well as New York and Los Angeles. The position is an interim role with no defined end date, one of the people said. While Henson was a product of Hollywood, coming from unscripted TV at NBCUniversal, Killion shares more of MrBeast's digital media DNA. He was president of Complex Networks until 2023, the youth-culture publisher BuzzFeed acquired for $300 million in 2021. Since then, he's been managing partner of Bright Bay Creative, an external production company that's made more than 30 videos for MrBeast's main channel, including 2023's "7 Days Stranded At Sea," which has 438 million views. Its website also lists YouTube, Facebook, and Procter & Gamble as clients. Henson was among a batch of recent hires with big media pedigrees, reflecting the company's ambitions to become a Disney-style entertainment colossus. "Beast Games" remains under Tyler Conklin, the show's co-creator, executive producer, and director. With the company naming Adam Boorstin earlier this month to lead WatchTime Studios, and now Killion in place, it's possible the company won't seek a direct replacement for Henson, one of the people with knowledge of the situation said. Read the full article here

How do you make money on Roblox? This startup built an empire. PUBLISHED: August 7, 2026 at 5:26 PM EDT UPDATED: August 7, 2026 at 5:37 PM EDT By Emerson Drewes, Las Vegas Review-Journal At 20 years old, Alex Hicks faced a problem most college students never encounter: The online games he was creating were generating six figures in revenue every month. So he dropped out. Today, Hicks is a co-founder of Twin Atlas, a Las Vegas-based game studio with roughly 110 employees that develops some of the most-played experiences on Roblox, an online gaming platform used by more than 150 million people daily. The platform has over a million games ranging from obstacle courses and roleplay to dress-up and horror. And, if you don't know what Roblox is, your kid surely does. From a colorful office in Las Vegas, Twin Atlas has created games that have attracted billions of visits, partnered with brands including Netflix and MrBeast, and grown into one of Roblox's top independent studios. Twin Atlas is part of a growing creator economy in which developers earn money through Roblox's virtual currency system and brand partnerships. The company illustrates how a platform once viewed primarily as a children's game has evolved into a business ecosystem capable of supporting full-time careers, venture-backed studios and global entertainment franchises. "Roblox isn't a single game but a repository or platform that offers lots of games," said Benjamin Burroughs, associate professor of emerging media at UNLV's Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies. "The variety is staggering." Twin Atlas itself has created a myriad of games, with variety as wide ranging as the platform has to offer. Their most notable are Creatures of Sonaria, which has 1.9 billion visits, and Robloxian High School with 1.4 billion visits. One of the main challenges when it comes to Roblox development is the constant trend cycle and metabolism for games. But, the cream rises, and Hicks and his team at Twin Atlas have created some of the top games on the platform, alongside calling Las Vegas its home. How do you make money on Roblox? Roblox creators earn money through the Developer Exchange program, which allows them to convert "Robux", the platform's in-game currency, into real money. Players buy Robux to spend on items and perks within games. It's an example of platform-based creator content, where work is produced and monetized within a single ecosystem. YouTube operates similarly through its AdSense program, allowing creators to earn revenue from ads on their videos. The game Bathe Da Baby, changed from Bake Da Baby, is another example of unprecedented popularity and revenue, according to Burroughs, or games like Dress to Impress, which saw massive social media attention in 2024. Really, anything in the top charts is sure to be raking in the dough. "It isn't just a pipedream being sold without any results - there are real success stories," said Burroughs. Twin Atlas also makes money through partnerships with companies, who hire them to make games for their brand or company. But, DevEx still brings in the most cash for them. While they did not provide salary ranges, Twin Atlas is able to provide a solid quality of life for its employees, Hicks said. "I don't think we're quite in the Silicon Valley tech area yet," he said. "But in terms of being able to do Roblox as a full-time job, people are absolutely able to do that and able to afford what they need." Roblox also has growing ties to Nevada. The company reincorporated in the state in 2025. "We believe that Nevada's corporate law framework and statutory regime provide a stable and predictable legal environment in which the Company can focus on innovation and growth," said a Roblox spokesperson. "The proposal was recommended following a rigorous and thoughtful analysis by our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and our Board of Directors." Earlier this year, Roblox agreed to implement additional child-safety measures and provide $12.5 million in funding and support programs to resolve a lawsuit brought by Nevada. The agreement includes age verification requirements, restrictions on certain communications involving minors and an online-safety awareness campaign. Child safety remains one of the platform's biggest criticisms. "Games are often designed with monetization in mind and have aggressive in-game purchase mechanics," said Burroughs. "Ultimately this is all targeting a young audience that may not be supervised or can best evaluate spending decisions." Founding of Red Manta and Twin Atlas. Twin Atas' founders all started the same way: as kids making games for fun. Hicks, 29, chief design officer, and Adam Schneider, 26, chief technical officer, began making games at an early age, teaching themselves along the way. Schneider grew up near Roblox's headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area and spent time on campus learning about game development and meeting other creators. By 11, he had taught himself programming using online resources and YouTube. Hicks, originally from Canada, discovered Roblox through an ad in 2009 and quickly became interested in building games. He later enrolled in college but dropped out after finding success on the platform. Roblox Studio is accessible to beginners, offering pre-designed assets like cars, swords, rocket launchers, that can be dragged and dropped into games. "You could essentially build something and be playing it with friends the same day," Hicks said. Both started as hobbyists, until it wasn't just a hobby anymore. Their paths crossed when Hicks was developing their game Robloxian High School. Schneider applied to join the project and they spent about two years working on it before it took off. That's when the money started to roll in. "So, the game started making significant amounts of money, like in the six-figure range every month," Hicks said. "I think I was 19 or 20, and I thought, 'What am I supposed to do with all this money?'" From there, Hicks and Schneider co-founded the Roblox studio Red Manta in 2018, originally based in the Bay Area. In 2022, the studio merged with Las Vegas-based Sonar Studios, founded by Samuel Garcia, to form Twin Atlas. Garcia now serves as chief executive officer of the combined companies. The rest of the team then relocated to Las Vegas. "We realized we had the same thing going: a group of homegrown creators who grew up on Roblox and love building games," Hicks said. The merger created what they describe as a "super studio," plus Las Vegas provided lower taxes and cost of living than anywhere in California. "Every year has been crazier," said Schneider. "We've released so many games, and obviously we have this great studio now." Inside Twin Atlas. The Twin Atlas office is a gamers paradise. The front lobby has a colorful mural with art from their games, offices are filled with knick-knacks like Legos and plushes, cubicles are bustling with laughter and LED lights line the walls. Currently, the company has around 110 employees - most under the age of 30 - including a mixture of full-time and independent contractors spread throughout the globe. Although, many of them have known each other for 10-plus years, or since they first started tinkering around on the platform. With Twin Atlas' success, they were able to take their jobs and friendships offline and into the office. "You can get a lot more done in person, I think, than, like, on a voice call," said Schneider. "Having a physical space definitely improves the communication a lot more than virtual. Not to say virtual can't work, because that's how we got here." The company has a "laid-back culture," said Hicks, with most employees working within the typical, nocturnal gamer schedule, rather than working nine-to-five. Hicks said people "roll in" when they feel like it, trusting them to get their work done. It's the small things that keep people satisfied at the company; recently the company rolled out DoorDash credits so people can get food delivered for free, Schneider said. "People are just happy to be here," he said. "It's kind of stuff like that, just like the small details outside of working that just kind of make a fun social group." Twin Atlas has racked up quite the accolades, as well. In 2023, the studio won Best Studio at the Roblox Innovation Awards and Best Immersive Experience for one of their driving games. They are one of the top shops on e-commerce platform Shopify, selling merchandise based on their games, such as dragons from one of their top games Creatures of Sonaria. Additionally, they have a "YouTube plaque," which is awarded to creators who reach such milestones as 100,000 or 1 million subscribers. One of the main challenges when it comes to Roblox development is the constant trend cycle and metabolism for games. "All games and platforms have life cycles," said Burroughs. "The challenge is to keep kids who are pre-teens and then teens connected to the platform." And, Twin Atlas is well-poised to handle the ever-changing platform, constantly making new games and pushing out updates to stay ahead of the curve and keep audiences engaged. In June, they launched a game based on the world famous anime "Attack on Titan" and a partnership with Mattel to develop a Masters of the Universe-themed game. But for now, Las Vegans can say they have a slice of Roblox history in their backyard. (C) 2026 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit reviewjournal.com... Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

IShowSpeed reportedly buys $11M warehouse to build massive Content Creation studio. Aug 2, 2026 August 1, 2026 The property is expected to serve as a central hub for content production and business operations. IShowSpeed is reportedly expanding his media business with the purchase of an industrial warehouse near Miami that is expected to become a dedicated production studio as the YouTube star continues building his creator enterprise, Afrotech reports. According to the outlet, a real estate publication, The Real Deal, reported that the 21-year-old streamer, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr., acquired a 26,600-square-foot warehouse on a 1.8-acre property for approximately $10.75 million. The property, located in Miami's West Little River area, is expected to serve as a central hub for content production and business operations. The reported purchase represents one of the largest business investments of Watkins' career and reflects a growing trend among top digital creators who are purchasing permanent production facilities rather than relying on rented studio space. Fellow creator MrBeast has also invested in a large-scale production campus as leading online personalities continue expanding into full-scale media companies, according to the outlet. A post shared by Luxury Properties (@luxury_properties) Watkins rose to prominence through gaming livestreams before broadening his content to include travel, sports, and real-world challenges. His global broadcasts, including high-profile livestreams across several African countries, have helped him build one of YouTube's largest audiences, surpassing 50 million subscribers in 2026. His growing influence has translated into business opportunities beyond streaming. Watkins has secured partnerships with brands including Dick's Sporting Goods, Beats by Dre, and Doritos. Forbes also included him among its list of highest-paid creators of 2026, estimating his earnings at approximately $30 million. Watkins' profile continued to grow during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where he collaborated with FIFA throughout the tournament and later appeared during the closing ceremony. Reflecting on his journey afterward, Watkins encouraged aspiring creators to remain committed to their goals. "Four years ago, I was in my mom's house, screaming, barking, 'Siuuu!' Cristiano Ronaldo! Siuuu!'... A kid from Ohio... just doing anything, and I just performed at the World Cup final," Watkins said in a YouTube video. "You can do whatever you want... Just believe." RELATED CONTENT: Arizona State University Capitalizes On Content Creation With New Degree Program