By Zaheer Kachwala

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Roblox RBLX.N forecast annual bookings below market estimates on Thursday, sparking fears growth at the videogame platform was slowing after years of breakneck progress.

The company said it expects bookings for 2025 to be between $5.20 billion and $5.30 billion, the midpoint of which was below estimates of $5.27 billion according to data compiled by LSEG.

Roblox's forecast adds to worries about the videogame industry's health, after a lackluster outlook from Electronic Arts EA.O, which blamed weak bookings - a key measure of in-game spending - on its struggling soccer franchise.

Still, Roblox's projection points to a third consecutive year of roughly 20% growth in bookings, even as rivals grapple with a slowdown in spending from customers stung by sticky inflation.

"We're growing at a substantial premium to the overall gaming market. Right now, gaming is barely growing as a category," outgoing CFO Michael Guthrie told Reuters.

The overall video-game industry, in comparison, likely grew by 2.1% in 2024, according to research firm Newzoo.

A push into new game genres, including those for older players, has fueled rapid growth at Roblox over the past two years and unlocked new revenue streams in ads and e-commerce.

The company has also benefited from a surge in user-generated content and its free-to-play model, which has helped Roblox buck the broader slowdown in videogame spending.

However, daily active users, a key metric that determines engagement, fell slightly to 85.3 million in the three months ended December 31, from 88.9 million in the prior quarter. Fourth-quarter bookings of $1.36 billion also missed estimates of $1.37 billion.

Guthrie blamed the weaker growth on tough comparisons with the year-ago quarter, when Roblox launched on Sony's PlayStation consoles, driving a wave of new sign-ups and higher spending.

He also cited the platform's suspension in Turkey, where it was banned over safety and child abuse concerns — an issue that has long dogged Roblox, drawing lawsuits and public scrutiny.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

((Zaheer.Kachwala@thomsonreuters.com;))