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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

#331

Post by dagmx »

justinclift wrote: post #324
dagmx wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. You assume they’re paid for by the owner of the phone. That’s not necessarily reflective of a companies income stream. Microsoft also charge for commercial access to their SDKs for example, and every company has different business models. 2. Then what does steam offer for 30% that isn’t just distribution? The majority of steam games do not use Valves tooling for matchmaking or their engine. 3. Can you go without n…

> Or are you that childish :( > Microsoft also charge for commercial access to their SDKs ... Is that a new thing, or just for specific products? Asking because I've previously used some of their Azure SDK stuff before and that didn't seem to have a charge for SDK access.

Microsoft have charged for non-individual use for longer than they’ve had the free version. I should have perhaps used commercial non-individual use rather than just commercial.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/d/visual-studio-enterprise-s...

Meanwhile Xcode is free and has been since the Project Builder days on Next.

I’m not personally saying one is better value or not. Just that the companies have put different values on different parts of their developer flow for many decades now, and one can’t simply say that the money comes from a single source.

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

#332

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

modeless wrote: post #17

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 believe they are significantly shielded from competition

I think you're onto something. All of the nieces and nephews of mine that play Roblox do it on an iPad.

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

#333

Post by bradjohnson »

gruez wrote: post #268
MeanwInAsia wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>Btw, did you also know that parents in central china have protested over the right to cheat? Source?

It's extremely easy to find yourself, but here: https://qz.com/96793/chinese-students-and-their-parents-figh...

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

#334

Post by cg5280 »

bentcorner wrote: post #25

In my (non-finance, parent of a roblox-player) opinion, the problem that Roblox has is that every single roblox game has a "roblox" essence. Every roblox game is undeniably roblox, and to broaden their market and attract higher-paying users, I think they need to fix that. There's a certain amount of jank in every roblox game, and that's part of the charm. But it's undoubtedly also a reason why people with fatter wall…

I get the impression that they are actively trying to attract older players, perhaps at least teenagers or young adults. I assume because so many young kids play Roblox they are running out of new users on that front. And I agree with your comment and others here; the extreme majority of Roblox games are poor quality and it is very hard to sift through and find anything interesting. I think if Roblox could fix that they could continue to grow even more. Perhaps they could begin to compete with "real" platforms like Steam for attention.

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

#335

Post by whoknew1122 »

GNOMES wrote: post #312

My kiddo has easily spent 500+ on Roblox across birthday/Xmas gift cards/chores. I can't stand that almost all of the games seem to have a pay to win aspect, or are heavily advertising every chance they get. As a gamer dad, I try to show my kid better games to play, but because they aren't free, his friends can't play. Just drives him to keep playing and wanting more Robux. It's compounded when his favorite Youtubers…

> As a gamer dad, I try to show my kid better games to play, but because they aren't free, his friends can't play. Just drives him to keep playing and wanting more Robux. It's compounded when his favorite Youtubers play...

If there's a paid game your kid really likes, perhaps you can talk to his friend's parents and buy the friend a copy of the game. ...I say talking to the friend's parents first, because just gifting a game to the friends would be creepy.

But buying friends copies of a game we want to play together is something my friend group routinely does and we're all adults with disposable income.

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

#337

Post by whoknew1122 »

mrmetanoia wrote: post #321
GNOMES wrote: post #312

My kiddo has easily spent 500+ on Roblox across birthday/Xmas gift cards/chores. I can't stand that almost all of the games seem to have a pay to win aspect, or are heavily advertising every chance they get. As a gamer dad, I try to show my kid better games to play, but because they aren't free, his friends can't play. Just drives him to keep playing and wanting more Robux. It's compounded when his favorite Youtubers…

I've mentioned this in other comments, but I sat in with my nephews on a Roblox session, then stayed after to check things out on my own. There's an astounding number of adults on that platform saying some of the most horrible things. The games are like you say, and there's some that are indeed the model of what I expected: games that kids and amateurs made with their tools. Car jump games. Simple platforming. Basic…

First thing I do when playing a multiplayer game with proximity voice chat is to turn voice chat off. Makes play sessions much more enjoyable.

Sure you may miss the 5% of chat that is actually tactical and relevant to the game, but it's a very small price to pay in order to avoid edgelords and other toxic people.

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

#338

Post by cg5280 »

low_tech_love wrote: post #134
bemmu wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a dev on the platform and agree that there is a lot of jank in Roblox games. There's some indication of more polish coming, as recently many games have been rewarded (Pressure, Shovelware's Brain Game etc.) from having more polished animations. Devs respond quickly to seeing other games succeed and take notes. The tools are also getting better. It's gradually getting less nightmarish to try to import a working sk…

Sorry to hijack your comment, but could you recommend some kind of guide for someone who wants to start? There are lots of stuff out there but I need a filter.

I would suggest you start like one would with anything programming. Come up with some simple ideas on what to build first and give it a try. Their documentation is pretty good and Lua/Luau is dead simple to work with.

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

#339

Post by ryandrake »

outside415 wrote: post #277
paulpauper wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roblox's salary ranges from $140861 in total compensation ... Levels.fyi collects anonymous and verified salaries from current and former employees of Roblox. does not seem like fu to me

They pay very well for senior roles . Like $700k+ tc

Every company pays well when you look only at the very top of the engineering pyramid where there are fewer people.

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

#340

Post by wavemode »

whoknew1122 wrote: post #335
GNOMES wrote: post #312

My kiddo has easily spent 500+ on Roblox across birthday/Xmas gift cards/chores. I can't stand that almost all of the games seem to have a pay to win aspect, or are heavily advertising every chance they get. As a gamer dad, I try to show my kid better games to play, but because they aren't free, his friends can't play. Just drives him to keep playing and wanting more Robux. It's compounded when his favorite Youtubers…

> As a gamer dad, I try to show my kid better games to play, but because they aren't free, his friends can't play. Just drives him to keep playing and wanting more Robux. It's compounded when his favorite Youtubers play... If there's a paid game your kid really likes, perhaps you can talk to his friend's parents and buy the friend a copy of the game. ...I say talking to the friend's parents first, because just giftin…

> just gifting a game to the friends would be creepy

lol well this certainly depends on how it's done. Walking up to them in a trench coat and handing them a disc? Probably creepy. But you could also just, like, send them a gift key on Steam...

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