Roberts was born in Redwood City, California to a British father and an American mother, and grew up in Manchester, England.

As a teenager, he created several video games for the BBC Micro, including Stryker's Run, Wizadore, and King Kong.

[8][9] He cited disillusionment with working with large development teams and Origin parent company Electronic Arts' unwillingness to give substantial funding to games that weren't sequels.

[8] The fledgling studio set up shop in Austin and for several years worked quietly, inking a publishing deal with Microsoft in 1997.

Roberts left the company after the acquisition, abandoning the director position of his ambitious project Freelancer, although he remained with the game in a consulting role for a while.

[11][12] After leaving Digital Anvil, Roberts founded Point of No Return Entertainment, planning to produce films, television and games.

Roberts founded Ascendant Pictures in 2002 and served as a producer for a number of Hollywood productions including Edison, Timber Falls, Outlander, Who's Your Caddy?, The Big White, Ask the Dust, Lucky Number Slevin and Lord of War, which were almost entirely financed by a loophole in the German tax laws that was finally closed in 2006.

By November 2012, they had earned US$6,238,563, surpassing all stretch goals set for the campaigns, and breaking video game industry crowdfunding records.