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Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

matthewball.co

181–190 of 590 posts

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#181

The bigger question about Roblox is how and why they got their special treatment from Apple. The whole concept of Roblox is in blatant violation of Apple's App Store policies. I believe they are significantly shielded from competition because who else can get that kind of ongoing and reliable relief from Apple's famously picky and capricious App Store reviewers? Maybe Roblox is happy to pay Apple their 30% in exchang…

I think the same argument could be made for Twitter/X. The app stores by Google and Apple specifically disallow pornographic material, yet the app is full of it. Once you're big and important enough, the rules mostly don't apply for you anymore. Of course, if they tried to circumvent the app store tax directly within the app, there would be consequences, but as long as Google/Apple can make a profit, it's okay it seems.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#182
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why is it wild? Microsoft keeps 30% of xbox store sales. Apple, Google, MS, etc. play a massive part in attracting users to the platform.

Google gives you an App Store and maintain the OS that other hardware vendors (and sometimes themselves) implement hardware around. They take a 30% cut for distribution in their special app store and not much else. Microsoft and Sony take similar cuts for access to their game consoles. In return they provide: - High quality, robust developer APIs. - High quality debuggers, graphics debuggers and CPU+GPU profiling too…

For the difference between mobile and consoles, it depends on if you have publisher or port team backing or not. Many indie developers do not get devkits, do not get proper access to Nintendo Switch Online, PlayStation Network, or Xbox Live networking, do not get performance monitoring tools, and do not get any documentation or support. For them the most that happens is they export the necessary files in a reviewable archive format and send it in for approval, hoping that the game engine they chose to use properly functions on the given console and that there won't be any major problems that will cause them to go through the review process again. This also applies to any major updates or patches later on. The consoles treat these indie developers the same way Steam, Itch.io, and GOG treat their developers -- as vendors in a storefront, not as equal business partners vital to the operations of the platform. For these indie devs if you want the above features you have to hire somebody to do the porting for you or you have to go through a lengthy and expensive process to be approved to use them. Most console releases of well known indie games like Celeste, Shovel Knight, and Rimworld are handled by port teams for this very reason. On console, if you're below the AA tier you're paying for the cost of the privileges others get instead of you.

However with mobile storefronts at the start everybody gets treated equally since they all have access to the same limited number of features and get the same level of (some would say neglectful) automated support. For the most part Epic Games goes through the same process of uploading a game or program and waiting for approval that Jimbob does. It's only afterwards that the level of access changes. It's this way by design. Not only because early on there were no big names in the mobile space and so no real tier system was necessary, but also because quantity is valued over quality. There are about a thousand uploads to Google Play a week (I haven't found strict data on how many are only games, but the process is the same for games and apps so it doesn't really matter), versus between twenty to thirty on PlayStation and Xbox. Creating unique avenues and methods would bottleneck things horrifically for mobile. As a developer you get an informal discount for the relative lack of quality control and increased competition you'll be facing.

This cost is very evident in the prices of the games. You won't ever see games that aren't asset flips or shovelware below a non-sale price of $1.99 on Xbox Games Store, but you'll see plenty of $0.79 games on Google Play and Steam.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#183

> Unlike other social platforms, Roblox’s revenue is nearly all via user spending rather than advertising. As such, Roblox pays 25% of its revenue to Apple and Google (30% of transactions on those platforms) whereas Facebook, Snap, et al pay effectively 0. Note that Facebook, which has structurally lower costs to service users than Roblox and is far more mature, has an operating margin of roughly 40% — if the company…

[deleted]

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#184
post #78
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a full-time developer of Roblox games. It's wild that Apple or Google make as much from my games as I do. Obviously it still works out well enough since I'm not abandoning the platform, but strange anyway.

why is it wild? Microsoft keeps 30% of xbox store sales. Apple, Google, MS, etc. play a massive part in attracting users to the platform.

Apple is not attracting. Saying Apple is attracting with their compute platform would be saying Intel is attracting with their compute platform. Apple is spending next to nothing to attract users to Roblox but is acting as an unwanted gatekeeper to users that paid Apple to use their products.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#185
post #78
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a full-time developer of Roblox games. It's wild that Apple or Google make as much from my games as I do. Obviously it still works out well enough since I'm not abandoning the platform, but strange anyway.

why is it wild? Microsoft keeps 30% of xbox store sales. Apple, Google, MS, etc. play a massive part in attracting users to the platform.

Ok why doesn’t Microsoft get 30% of revenue of Steam purchases or Adobe CC subs? Why doesn’t Apple get 30% of revenue from purchases through the Safari browser in MacOS?

After all they play a massive part in making those purchases possible.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That a bit unclear. Are you meaning Visa/Mastercard charge less in the EU due to EU regulations? If that's what you're meaning, then I simply don't know as I've not heard that before. :)

Someone in the food chain does take less in some EU countries. Not all. The commissions are capped by law in some parts, but not others. As a small sample, in RO i think a large store chain pays like 0.5%. The consequence is credit card reward programs are either non existent or something like 0.1% cashback. The other consequence is you can pay by card almost anywhere. On the other hand I've been to NL and small stor…

Not sure if you actually been to RO but every small shop has 3-4 payment terminals, each bank branded, and based on the card they use a different terminal thus ensuring minimal charge or even 0.

In DE or NL, you operate via an intermediary ( like payone, etc ) and a single terminal. Maybe here comes the difference.

PS. Larger shops/markets ( like kaufland, carrefour, etc ) have also just one, but I guess they negociate the fee.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#187

My kids have started playing Roblox recently and they have started asking for some Robux so they can buy crap... I really don't get how so many people are into spending dollars on this stuff. Everything they wanted was ~$10-20 NZD and it was just throw away stuff, like a costume, etc. And then it's only useful in that one game you have brought it for. It blows my mind that it ever got this popular.

Who is "people" here? The children or the parents? The children are literally children; to them the funny numbers we use really are just funny numbers, they don't know how they relate to real value. As for the parents, a few credits here and there to shut them up and keep them out of trouble is probably considered worthwhile. When I was little they got football shirts, yoyos, trading cards etc. Same thing.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#188

Why can't they just issue their own device to minimize app store fees. it seems to me the amount money going to app store real estate is more than enough to justify some sort of method of allowing their users to play the game without app store intervening. The total amount spent so far is astounding if viewed in figures. Minus half or quarter of the total time since appearing in app-store for it to be served to the l…

> Why can't they just issue their own device to minimize app store fees.

Lmao.

Microsoft tried that and failed. Amazon tried that and failed. The market has enough room for iOS and Android and nothing else.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

also https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Tutorials/Redstone_compute... ;-)

Speaking of hated network effect companies, that's the fandom wiki roach motel.

Here's the same page on the better wiki: https://minecraft.wiki/w/Tutorials/Redstone_computers

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#190

reminds me of the path Minecraft could have taken - they also had a massive amount of community developers building servers, but instead of encouraging monetization and taking a cut, they banned it and cracked down aggressively Of course, unlike Roblox, Minecraft was profitable

What is the Minecraft online experience like these days? I only ever hear about people playing self hosted servers with friends. Are there still big servers with unique game modes kicking? Seems like it would be hard to keep sustainable
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