Why I Chose Roblox
Introduction
My name is Stephen, and I’m a senior software engineer at a large corporation where I work on a variety of fun projects with some incredibly talented people. However, my passion has always been in game development — it’s what started my love for programming just over 10 years ago. At 23 years old, I’ve become aware that the time to take risks in my career is now, while I’m still young. As such, I have decided to take a shot at starting a game development studio. In doing so, I have also made a decision as to what game engine with which I would begin. From the title, it is no surprise that I decided to use Roblox. I would like to explain how I made this decision.
My opinions in this article are just that — my opinions. My decisions have been made from my own personal experience, and I am not prescribing that everyone else should take the same direction as myself.
Creating a video game is no easy task. Depending on experience and complexity, a video game can range from a few months to many years to complete. The majority of games today are created on pre-existing engines, which helps developers pour more time into the actual game rather than focusing on the underlying system in which the game resides. For so-called “indie” game developers, access to these engines is an enormous benefit, since creating an engine from scratch can be tedious and takes away precious time from other aspects of creating a game. In recent years, there have been a large handful of game engines that have become available for independent developers — many of which are free, with an agreement to give the engine creators a percentage of the revenue.
One of these engines — although, many might consider it more of a platform than just an engine — is Roblox. With a decade of experience on Roblox, it became a serious choice in my venture toward game development. The other serious contenders for me were Unity and Unreal Engine, both of which have gained a lot of respect over the years within the game industry. Unity was a more realistic option for myself, since I had already gained a couple years of experience using the engine, whereas I had only clocked a couple months with Unreal. Thus, my decision realistically came down to Unity and Roblox. I want to give eight reasons why I chose Roblox.
Eight Reasons
There are eight primary reasons why I have chosen Roblox. These are not necessarily “Unity-vs-Roblox” arguments; rather, they are reasons why I found Roblox to be a better start for myself.
1. Free & Unlimited Online Servers
Roblox allows all users to create and share games for free on their platform. This also includes hosting online game servers. This feature is built into the fabric of how Roblox has been built: It’s a social experience. Rarely will anyone find a single-player game. (In fact, single-player games weren’t even supported until a few years ago.) By default, any player on Roblox can jump into a game and play it with other players with no limit. This means a developer could host a game with 30,000 concurrent players and not have to spend a dime.
2. Free & Unlimited Data Storage
This topic can be split up into two sections: The first on player data, and the second on asset hosting.
Player data. Saving player data is essential to just about every game created. Being able to have players save progress and jump right back in at a later time is essential to gameplay. Roblox exposes an easy-to-use data API (known as “DataStores”), which allows developers to easily persist data at no cost and no size limit.
Assets. Since games are hosted on Roblox, all the assets within the game exist on the site as well. In essence, it’s cloud-based gaming. When players play a game, the player only has to have the Roblox client installed, while the rest of the game assets are streamed in. Roblox has no fee and no limit regarding the number of assets uploaded by any user. (Disclaimer: There is a small fee for audio, which is probably related to content moderation.)
3. Easy to Monetize
Monetization is a significant reason I chose Roblox. For context: Roblox operates a virtual currency (called “Robux”), which can be earned or purchased by users. Users who earn Robux through sales of assets, games, or other game items, can cash out Robux for real money. As expected, Roblox takes a bit of the cut: 30% of all Robux sales are taxed. Depending on the perspective of the exchange rate versus the purchase rate, some might consider the cut even larger. While this might not seem ideal, I consider it a fair trade-off for the amount of free services provided.
In order to monetize a game, developers can simply set a Robux amount to purchase the game, and/or create in-game items that can be purchased by players. This process is incredibly simple, and Roblox has provided a simple API for in-game purchases.
A commonly-overlooked benefit of Roblox monetization is the process of exchanging from Robux to real money (e.g. USD) does not require incorporation. In other words, game developers do not have to go through the process of starting an actual company in order to make money. Instead, Roblox pays developers as individuals (which will legally be categorized on 1099-MISC tax forms in the United States). Developers can also have money directed to their businesses.
4. Involved Community of Developers
The community of game developers on Roblox is incredible. The majority of the game developers on Roblox are quite young and are still learning a lot of the basics regarding programming and general game development. As such, many of the developers help each other learn. They ask for help, critique each other’s work, give suggestions, and collaborate. When someone has a successful game, the other developers cheer it on, rather than bitterly compete. The community of developers on Roblox have helped transform me into a competent developer both on Roblox and in my professional career.
5. Easy to Publish and Update Games
Publishing a new game or updating an existing game is incredibly simple. With literally a keystroke (ALT+P), a game can be published or updated. It takes a few seconds to publish, and the changes are available immediately to players (except for game servers currently running, which developers can explicitly shut down if needed). Of course, I would never suggest pushing changes directly to a production environment without testing, but assuring everything works is up to the developers of the game, not Roblox. Regardless, getting a game available to all the players is an effortless task.
6. Huge Player Base
The amount of players on Roblox is massive. I don’t have exact statistics available, but it is common to see the top games with 20k+ concurrent players. Roblox is also cross-platform, which means that the player-base is not limited to just PC, but can be played on PC/Mac, Android/iOS, and the Xbox One.
7. Roblox is Growing
Again, I wish I had the statistics available, but any Roblox user that has been around for more than a couple years can easily attest to the fact that Roblox’s player-base is growing. To steal from the last point, having 20k+ concurrent players was unheard of a few years ago. In fact, when I first joined Roblox in 2008, having games with more than 500 players was considered quite a feat. As far as I can observe, this growth appears to be exponential.
This also includes brand recognition. People know what Roblox is. A few years ago, no one did. My own two nephews started playing Roblox without me ever telling them a word about it, and they love it. Just about everyone I ask nowadays has at least heard of it.
8. Easier Start
All-in-all, Roblox is an easier start for myself personally. If I really want to dive into game development, it makes the most sense for me to start on a platform that provides me everything that I need to make games. I don’t have to worry about having the money to host game servers or store data, nor do I have to go through the process of incorporating right away. Roblox allows me to focus on what I want to focus on: making games that are unique and enjoyable for players of all ages.
My Plan & The Future
I hope to slowly ease into game development over the next year or so. If everything goes well, I plan on pursuing game development full-time. If that happens, I plan on starting off by using Roblox as my development platform.
However, I don’t know what I will do in the future. It would be foolish not to use other engines as well, especially Unity. I hope to always use Roblox to some capacity, as long as it remains a viable option, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. As for now, Roblox is my game development platform of choice.
