Roblox Aims to Become a Gateway for Aspiring Indie Game Developers despite being often overshadowed by Minecraft, the popular “build-anything” game among kids, Roblox has managed to maintain an impressive player base of over 10 million monthly users even after nine years since its launch. Now, the company has a compelling idea to keep these players engaged: allow them to earn money from their own creations.
Last year, Roblox Corporation experimented with a developer exchange program, enabling a select group of game players who design mini-games within the Roblox platform to cash out their virtual profits for real money. Encouraged by the success, the company is now looking to expand its DevEx initiative to a broader audience.
Explaining the concept behind DevEx, a company representative wrote in a recent blog post, “If you contribute a popular title to our thriving ecosystem of games, you deserve to be rewarded for your work.”
Presently, approximately 200 developers have participated in this money swap program, with most of the top developers belonging to the higher end of Roblox’s target demographic, aged 8 to 18 years. However, Brad Justus, the marketing VP, noted some intriguing trends among this small group, estimating that between a quarter and a third of them have formed informal development “studios” within the game.
According to Justus, DevEx serves as an introduction to a potential career in indie game development. It not only signals the company’s commitment to encouraging community members to create better content but also presents an opportunity for aspiring game developers to showcase their skills.
Among Roblox’s monthly active user base, which ranges from 10 to 12 million, about 3.5 million users possess comprehensive accounts, while the remaining participants choose to play as guests. Nevertheless, the game boasts a thriving community, frequently attracting up to 160,000 concurrent players. This creates a perfect audience eagerly seeking enjoyable and immersive content.
Presently, game developers have the privilege of withdrawing up to $500 per month from their virtual currency wallets, which are referred to as Robux.However, in February, that limit is set to increase to $2,000. Notably, Roblox Corporation does not take a percentage of these cash-outs, as its revenue model relies on controlling the exchange rate between real money and virtual currency.