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

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

#201

Post by teamonkey »

modeless wrote: post #95
saint- wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious, why is Roblox in violation of Apple's App store policies?

> Apps should be self-contained in their bundles, and may not read or write data outside the designated container area, nor may they download, install, or execute code which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app, including other apps. Roblox is in clear violation of this clause, downloading and executing entire games written in Lua. Apple does have an exception to this policy for HTML5 games and…

Is any Lua run on iOS devices at all? The majority of the Lua code is sent to the server, which then tells the client what to do.

There are Lua scripts intended to run on the "client" (such as camera scripts) but I was under the impression (I could be wrong) that even they were converted by a server into instructions sent to the client, not run as a Lua scripts in a local Lua interpreter on your iPad.

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

#202

Post by stavros »

mahirsaid wrote: post #59

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

That "just" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Don't worry, though, your iPhone will soon be your own to do whatever you want with, thanks to the DMA. It already is, if you live in the EU.

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

#203

Post by MeanwInAsia »

J_cst wrote: post #199
jack_pp wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because kids aren't utilitarian. They want shiny things impulsively now in whatever niche game they are playing at the moment. Or want to keep up with their friends who got cool stuff to keep status. Doesn't matter to them that they'll switch games in a week and lose everything.

Some time ago I read an article explaining that initially games used to sell upgrades which were making the player stronger in multi-player games. The net result was that the games were loosing players because that mechanic was seen as unfair (pay to win). So they switched to aesthetics enhancements only and that resulted the correct strategy to have in game sales and not loosing players. Unfortunately cannot remembe…

Meanwhile, Chinese and Korean kids widely DEMAND pay to win, and see people who complain about Pay2Win as "Losers in life", because, to them, it's just two valid paths, and if someone pays to win at a game, then it's just a mark of status. Btw, did you also know that parents in central china have protested over the right to cheat?

Tons of really great stuff in eastern work culture that I miss now back in europe. But that "results-first and call it a systematic right" thing never sat well with me.

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

#204

Post by h0l0cube »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #177
h0l0cube wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never get this argument, but following its logic, is Apple and Microsoft being really charitable by not gatekeeping and taking a cut for every paid-for application installed on their respective desktop platforms? To answer my own question, it just seems that the status quo has inertia. In the way that we don't pay for online news, social media, or search, similarly, we've just accepted a large chunk of our purchase…

Is the "large chunk of our purchase ... feeding the app store" or is it going to shareholder profits? Appstores seem super inefficient if they cost so much to feed (ie run/maintain).

> feeding the app store" or is it going to shareholder profits

Sure. It's all just revenue growth. Sans some anti-competition regulation, it's the prerogative of a business to charge as much as the market will bear, as much as it can be sustained, by whatever legal means necessary.

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

#205

Post by radicalbyte »

I do not believe for a second that 13. Two of my three kids all have their ages set to 13+ because they decided to combine the age-related features you do want (limited chat, no tracking etc) with the content lock. I'm happy for my kids to play "Tree-house of Horrors" style games but not to be groomed by older player. Yet Roblox has no option for it.

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

#206

Post by brunoarueira »

actualwitch wrote: post #195
modeless wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apps should be self-contained in their bundles, and may not read or write data outside the designated container area, nor may they download, install, or execute code which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app, including other apps. Roblox is in clear violation of this clause, downloading and executing entire games written in Lua. Apple does have an exception to this policy for HTML5 games and…

Have you heard about codepush? Apps are routinely ignoring this requirement and apple does literally nothing, as recently discussed on hn: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41146779

It's allowed if the app doesn't change the main purpose based on the review process! In the past, I'd worked with a company which makes whitelabel apps for churches and does use codepush to fix bugs and implement small improvements, so through codepush the company can not change the app to be about casino games.

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

#207

Post by mcherm »

ro_bit wrote: post #72

> When a user buys $30 in Robux, the platform’s virtual currency, Roblox recognizes $30 in bookings. An average of $3 of that $30 is spent on a “consumable” (i.e., a single-user or otherwise perishable good), and so Roblox recognizes that $3 as revenue right away. The remaining $27 is spent on “durable” goods such as an avatar. As an avatar can and often will be used over time, Roblox recognizes this revenue over the…

If there were no growth, that would eventually be true (after 27 months). But there is a lot of growth.

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

#208

Post by decremental »

radicalbyte wrote: post #205

I do not believe for a second that 13. Two of my three kids all have their ages set to 13+ because they decided to combine the age-related features you do want (limited chat, no tracking etc) with the content lock. I'm happy for my kids to play "Tree-house of Horrors" style games but not to be groomed by older player. Yet Roblox has no option for it.

[dead]

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

#209

Post by loloquwowndueo »

endtime wrote: post #85
raister wrote: post #66

Roblox is a huge problem for me, as a parent of a 8y kid. Let me explain: I try to block violent apps in his tablet using Google's Family app, however, Roblox internally keeps 'offering' my kid almost any game, whatever if there's violence, drugs, killing others, and so forth. It's a headache and a source of fights, so, I thank the responsible (/sarcasm).

My kids use Roblox. There _are_ parental controls you can enable through Roblox. When my twins turned nine, I had to enable 9+ games for them. I believe the age cutoffs are 9+, 13+, and 17+. I think anything with drugs should be 17+, and realistic violence/blood might be 13+? Not totally sure. (Disclaimer: I'm a Roblox employee, but speaking only on my own behalf, and don't work on anything related to age guidelines.…

I have my kid’s set to “all ages” (the most “restrictive” category with the most “appropriate” content) and he does get gun violence, disturbing and scary games, and games based on non-kid characters (The Amazing Digital Circus).

Sometimes a game is shown and when kid tries to access it he gets a “this game isn’t allowed by your age category” or some such. This is an unbelievably dishonest way to tempt kids into content that’s not for them. If the content is not usable for them it should just not show, period.

If you work at Roblox maybe escalate the fact that content filtering by age category is totally worthless and could use fixing.

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

#210

Post by teamonkey »

lodovic wrote: post #77
nradov wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost all games have an inherently limited lifespan. How many games released 20 years ago are still selling well today? Games aren't like other software where you can keep enhancing the product and keep getting new sales. Thus games developers have to focus more on maximizing short term revenue rather than building a sustainable business around particular products. There are a handful of counterexamples like Madden…

That's really not the case. Check the wiki page for the top games in 2005. Many of these games are still around in an upgraded form.

In most cases, a re-released game is an entirely new game SKU using the same IP, just as a movie remake is a new movie based on a previous one. And similarly, once released, most rereleased or remastered games have a short tail.
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