3 ms·

even tiny roblox games make money. i developed for a small game (~10m plays) a few years back and i still earn a decent residual from player revenue, even as th

by bstsb 7mo ago

even tiny roblox games make money. i developed for a small game (~10m plays) a few years back and i still earn a decent residual from player revenue, even as the game slowly loses traction

hmokiguess 7mo ago
what does a decent residual mean?
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
- bstsb 7mo ago
  enough money to cash out via DevEx, Roblox's developer program, every month or so ($110). it's absolutely not a salary - there are barely five people playing at any given time - but given i've done nothing in a year, it's appreciated. edit: looked at the old stats online. a few years back that game was pulling $1,500+ with no effort each month
2001zhaozhao 7mo ago
I made a roblox game years ago with no more than like 2 concurrent players at a time. The game's ideas were immediately copied by a much bigger game (this turned me off the Roblox platform for good). I still got enough robux to DevEx just from premium roblox subscribers playing the game. (If I cash it out i would get a few hundred dollars. Which is nothing for me today but absolutely a lot of money for an aspiring teenage developer.)
- socalgal2 7mo ago
  Is there some other platform where ideas aren't copied?
  - g947o 7mo ago
    Depending on what is copied. If we are talking about game mechanics, they get copied all the time, of course. If it's about superficially reproducing a game including the assets, I don't think any big players on PC or consoles steal ideas from indie/smaller developers. That is despised and likely not allowed by the platform, if not challenged in court. (I have no idea about what happens on mobile platforms)
  - 2001zhaozhao 7mo ago
    I think game ideas can get copied everywhere but it happens much faster on Roblox and there is almost no recourse for the smaller developer who got copied. The platform doesn't care when someone makes a copy, there's no way for players to push back and actually hurt the developer making the copy (unlike Steam where trying to do it will get you bombarded with negative reviews and buried by the algorithm), and superficial visual quality and marketing attracts players more than actual gameplay quality.
glenngillen 7mo ago
Did you you have previous game making experience? I've toyed with the idea of trying to make it a small project for me and my kids but I thought it might be a bit beyond them (and then ultimately become just my project)
- bstsb 7mo ago
  i had experience, mainly with web development; that being said, Roblox Studio is very intuitive for building and UI design, as is Lua (specifically Luau). my advice is to just start building something. the Toolbox has thousands of 3D models which make the initial experience easier and more fun, and there are hundreds of YouTube tutorials teaching you the basics of Roblox scripting. also use the excellent DevForum, which has thousands of explainer posts: https://devforum.roblox.com/c/resources/community-tutorials/46 https://devforum.roblox.com/c/resources/community-tutorials/...
hjnilsson 7mo ago
Curious, how does the game monetise, do you have loot-boxes in-game or something? Or is it enough that people play it? What kind of game mechanics are possible to build around?

by bstsb 7mo ago

even tiny roblox games make money. i developed for a small game (~10m plays) a few years back and i still earn a decent residual from player revenue, even as the game slowly loses traction

hmokiguess 7mo ago

what does a decent residual mean?

deleted 7mo ago
[deleted]
bstsb 7mo ago
enough money to cash out via DevEx, Roblox's developer program, every month or so ($110). it's absolutely not a salary - there are barely five people playing at any given time - but given i've done nothing in a year, it's appreciated. edit: looked at the old stats online. a few years back that game was pulling $1,500+ with no effort each month

2001zhaozhao 7mo ago

I made a roblox game years ago with no more than like 2 concurrent players at a time. The game's ideas were immediately copied by a much bigger game (this turned me off the Roblox platform for good). I still got enough robux to DevEx just from premium roblox subscribers playing the game. (If I cash it out i would get a few hundred dollars. Which is nothing for me today but absolutely a lot of money for an aspiring teenage developer.)

socalgal2 7mo ago
Is there some other platform where ideas aren't copied?
- g947o 7mo ago
  Depending on what is copied. If we are talking about game mechanics, they get copied all the time, of course. If it's about superficially reproducing a game including the assets, I don't think any big players on PC or consoles steal ideas from indie/smaller developers. That is despised and likely not allowed by the platform, if not challenged in court. (I have no idea about what happens on mobile platforms)
- 2001zhaozhao 7mo ago
  I think game ideas can get copied everywhere but it happens much faster on Roblox and there is almost no recourse for the smaller developer who got copied. The platform doesn't care when someone makes a copy, there's no way for players to push back and actually hurt the developer making the copy (unlike Steam where trying to do it will get you bombarded with negative reviews and buried by the algorithm), and superficial visual quality and marketing attracts players more than actual gameplay quality.

glenngillen 7mo ago

Did you you have previous game making experience? I've toyed with the idea of trying to make it a small project for me and my kids but I thought it might be a bit beyond them (and then ultimately become just my project)

bstsb 7mo ago
i had experience, mainly with web development; that being said, Roblox Studio is very intuitive for building and UI design, as is Lua (specifically Luau). my advice is to just start building something. the Toolbox has thousands of 3D models which make the initial experience easier and more fun, and there are hundreds of YouTube tutorials teaching you the basics of Roblox scripting. also use the excellent DevForum, which has thousands of explainer posts: https://devforum.roblox.com/c/resources/community-tutorials/46 https://devforum.roblox.com/c/resources/community-tutorials/...

hjnilsson 7mo ago

Curious, how does the game monetise, do you have loot-boxes in-game or something? Or is it enough that people play it? What kind of game mechanics are possible to build around?