The Business Side of Roblox Development
This article was written by Zander Brumbaugh, who goes by ScottyMcPiper on Roblox. He is a Roblox developer with two years of experience in creating and marketing a variety of games including Power Simulator, Munching Masters, Magician Simulator, and many others. This article focuses on some of the business aspects of Roblox development including game promotion and data analysis as well as personal skills that the reader will find applicable now and in future professional environments.
Roblox first caught my eye while I was in middle school, around late 2014. It was, without any exaggeration, the most entertaining platform I had ever played games on. I attribute this to the variety of user-created content, something that makes Roblox unique from most other platforms. Fast forward: After spending three years on the platform as a consumer, I was a junior in high school and thinking critically about my future every day. I was certain that I wanted to attend university and Computer Science had always captivated me, so learning a programming language seemed like the logical next step. I already had some experience with HTML and web design but wanted a practical, profitable application for what I was learning. That’s exactly what I found in Roblox: the opportunity to grow, learn, and thrive.
Seeing the success and virtually unrestricted opportunity provided by Roblox made the idea of becoming a developer quite alluring. Now, with two years of experience on the platform, the games that I have contributed to are nearing a combined 150 million visits. Contrary to my initial expectation of learning only some rudimentary programming abilities, I have gained coveted skills in professional and fiscal management, with plans to establish my own LLC in the summer of 2020.
With Roblox Studio and other development resources being free, anyone is enabled to succeed with enough dedication and proper planning. You may encounter some of the typical “roadblocks on Roblox” but this article will help you to overcome them and assist you in creating content that makes you proud. As a developer, you’ll be constantly and intuitively maintaining a strong network for marketing and collecting professional friends and acquaintances within the vast and diverse developer community of Roblox.
The question I am most frequently asked about Roblox development is, simply, “what makes a game popular?” There’s no definitive answer to this; Roblox is uniquely poised to deliver user-generated games and, subsequently, an audience likely exists for anything one could think of creating. Internal mechanics of a successful game are not the subject of this article, however, there is an abundance of skills that you can learn to utilize that will maximize the performance of your projects. Social media and networking are an integral part of any company and it is no different for video game development. When I began my development career, I made several simple projects that were purely for my own enjoyment. I was still new to game development and only wanted to get an introduction to the production environment. I released my first game Endure with a friend and it peaked at roughly 100 concurrent players. If you play this game, you will observe that the systems are poorly made and implemented but it was one of the most motivating accomplishments I had achieved in the realm of development at the time. While ultimately yielding small results, the game allowed me to gain a small following on Roblox and inspired me to create more ambitious projects with more intricate mechanics. Soon after, I created a Twitter account that was dedicated to my development work and started posting the creations I was most proud of there as well as communicating with other, more popular developers. These new connections with other developers in the Roblox Twitter Community (RTC) gave me the opportunity to collaborate with more well-known individuals and thus grow my name the more that I worked.
Another important type of community member for developers is Roblox YouTubers. As YouTubers create content showcasing your games, an impression is made upon their audiences and, as a consequence, your player count will likely increase from the new publicity. Forming firm connections with these individuals may secure future promotion for your projects while also creating advocates for your work in the process. This type of networking is the same in many fields of work; expanding your image and developing your identity and reputation are the most vital elements of your career. Conducting your work legitimately and professionally will have effects that may not be immediately recognized but will certainly be of benefit in the future.
The ability to accurately analyze the analytics of your game and correlating that data with the behavior of your player base is crucial to maintaining the profitability and continued popularity of your project. While statistics and graphs are quite entertaining just to look at, there may be great value in them that you, as a developer, might be overlooking. Monitoring engagement time and looking at verbal feedback from your community can be very beneficial to the mechanics of your game, as the reasons for the loss of interest by players become much more apparent. Does the player progress too fast? Does gameplay feel like a constant grind for the player? Is the pacing fine but the content seems repetitive or does a more subtle creative issue exist? While the answers to these are not always served on a silver platter to you, your experience will grant you good inference for these decisions based on your increased business sense.
On the topic of monetization, your game is a market like any other. Players will be most likely to make purchases based on what will improve their enjoyment of the game. While monetization is absolutely a topic of its own, one mistake that has been made far too much throughout the gaming industry, in my eyes, is forcing players to make purchases to enjoy your game. Your player base should not be forced to make these purchases because the game is currently unenjoyable or, in some cases, virtually unplayable (i.e. pay-to-win). Like most that has been discussed so far, there exists a delicate balance between catering to every whim of your player base and also maintaining something you’re still proud of. Your artistic vision is part of who you are and it is the spirit of the game. You may run into individuals who believe that just because they play your game, they, in some sense, own part of it or otherwise should have some sort of directive power in it. This is not true. While you should be open to suggestions, don’t let players detract from the best you know your game can be.
Though the beginning of your development career may be different from my own, one thing is typically standard: your first game project will not be number one on the front page and that’s okay! As frustrating as it may be that we’re not all granted the instant gratification we crave, this is the best outcome. When I released my most successful project, Power Simulator, which was top of the front page for some time, it was exhilarating but extraordinarily stressful to maintain at first. My team and I did not expect the game to take off, as we had not officially released it; it was only open for testing overnight and by morning, we woke up to over 20K players. The optimal goal, for both your mental health and the quality of your projects, is simply to make each new game better than your last. You may spend months developing a game only to have it perform at a mediocre level but this is part of building your foundation; from each project, you gain a bit more experience and recognition. Motivation is key.
While some developers prefer to make their projects completely by themselves, I am a great advocate for collaboration on projects. This route of development has enabled me to develop efficient team coordination and communication skills as a project leader, which will certainly benefit me through professional environments throughout my life. One of the most sought-after qualities employers look for, especially in STEM where most work is team-based, is being able to coordinate your work in a team with clear communication. Roblox development is, in my opinion, one of the best places for prospective Computer Science students to get their start and learn the fundamentals of collaboration. Not only does it allow for greater leadership abilities but also a strong foundation in programming and eventually fiscal management skills. After combining what you have learned about networking, marketing, promotion, as well as how to build your overall experience as a developer, I believe that you too will be able to accomplish amazing feats on the platform while strengthening skills that will benefit you in whatever career path you may choose.
With the money and knowledge I have gained from creating games on Roblox, I have been enabled to attend my dream university, the University of Washington, which is ranked as one of the best Computer Science schools in the world. I have learned how to manage my taxes, ensured my own financial stability, and invested in myself for a better future. To put it simply: without Roblox, I would not be where I am today. I hope this article has spoken to you in some way or helped define a path for your future development endeavors. Please, feel free to reach out to me via Twitter if you have any further questions or if you want clarification on the contents of this article.
