How to Make a Fun Roblox Game That's Profitable (A First Hand Perspective) (2024)

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re interested in making Roblox games or are at least curious about how the entire process works.

In this post, I’ll share some of the insights and processes that we used to create engaging and well-monetized Roblox games using our recent release Horse Lifeas the main example throughout.

To clarify, this didn’t happen by pure coincidence (although there are a some luck involved). I was able to apply this process repeatedly to launch a total of 6 Roblox games with various levels of results:

I’m sure there are other approaches and processes that also work well, but I’m going to share my perspective and what works for me and hope this can help you, if you do decide on getting into Roblox game development.

By the way, if you’re already committed to Roblox, feel free to skip to the next section where I dive into my process. But if you’re still unsure whether developing on Roblox makes sense for you, then keep reading.

Why I Chose Roblox Over Steam and Other Platforms

Other than loving Roblox games as a player, here are a few reasons why I like building and publishing on Roblox instead of Steam or other platforms

1. Roblox has almost no barrier to entry:

• The Roblox Studio interface is much friendlier than the Unity or Unreal Engine. It’s designed for creators with little to no coding experience to jump in, mess around, and start building.
• You don’t have to pay for the servers– If you join Roblox and publish a game without a membership and you have 100,000 concurrent players, you don’t have to pay a penny for all the infrastructure.
  • For instance, players’ assets such as sounds, music, images, and models.

• It’s easy to set up in-game monetizationsuch as selling items because Roblox has done a great job at documenting this from an API perspective and also through various tutorials.
  • Also, everything is exchanged using Roblox’s virtual currency called Robux. Developers can then cash that out for real cash, and then Roblox will pay you as if you are an individual contractor.

• It only takes a few clicks to publish and update your game, and it will be available for any player on Roblox. And there is no review process like Steam where you need to:
  • Complete paperwork
  • Pay a $100 fee to receive an appID
  • Wait a few days to just to get your Steam verification
• You can launch an monetizable online mutiplayer game with a small team (or even by yourself) within a short amount with existing players of time compare to other platforms.

That’s why in 2023 out of $741 million Roblox paid out to their creators through their DevEx program.

More than 90% of the top 1,000 experiences by hours engaged in were owned by developers who were at least 18 years old. And the average age for top-earning and/or engaging developers is around 25 years old.

2. Roblox has a larger active user base: More downloads, plays, feedback, revenue, and ultimately a larger community.

According to Roblox’s 2024 investor financial report, the average daily active Roblox users were 77.7 million. Up 17% year-over-year.

3. The developer community: Roblox has a robust developer community that spans various forums and Discord channels that provide support, feedback, and resources to help developers bring their ideas to life.

These conveniences on top of having more free games available are why Roblox was the perfect platform for me since I started making game since I was around 11 years old. If it Roblox weren’t available, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into game development.

However, like anything in life, there are also trade offs to all the ridiculous conveniences.

Here are a few downside of Roblox:

1. Roblox offers a 25/75 split for their creators, where they take the majority. Compare that to the 70/31 and 88/12 split that Steam and Epic Games give their creators. Thus, there’s less revenue for the creator.

2. Asymmetrical exchange rate when you exchange Robux to actual money. This means Roblox takes another cut during the exchange on top of the 25/75 split. Here is how it works:

As a player it cost ~$100 to buy 10,000 Robux.

When you Cash Out as a dev, you only get $35 for 10,000 Robux.

3. Roblox needs to approve your DevEx account before you can “Cash Out”

Part of the requirement is to have a minimum of 30,000 Robux before you can make a cash out request.

So whether Roblox is for you depends on how you value the trade offs. To me the convenience outweighs the downsides.

Now, let’s get into how I approach building games in Roblox from scratch.

My Roblox Game Development Process

The key to success on Roblox is making enjoyment the top priority. Setting your sights on profit first will paradoxically result in an uninspired horror. Repelling players and potentially ruining your reputation as a developer.

A great game will naturally attract players. This audience then creates monetization opportunities.

Here are the phases on how we approach Roblox game development:

1. Ideation– Come up with an idea that has potential in the Roblox marketplace.
2. Pre-production (rapid game prototyping)– Prove the idea with minimum resource sink.
3. Early production (alpha release) – Expand upon features and further develop your core loop.
4. Production (beta release) – Build upon features.
5. Full release – Implement monetization and add more features.

I’ll cover all of the phases in detail below.

Phase 1: Ideation, find Roblox game ideas with profit potential

In this phase, your main goal is to find and narrow down a game idea worth investing your time further.

This no different than thinking through details of a game pitch for publishers and investors. The questions you want to answer are:

• Does this idea have evidence and potential of fun and replay-ability?
• What is its monetization (revenue) potential?
• Can I execute this idea competently?

And here is how I approach this.

1. Focus on excitement and uniqueness – I’ll start by identifying themes and types of experiences that excite me and build possible ideas. I also look forward to introducing games with features that might not exist yet on the platform.

Make sure youlike your idea. You’ll lose motivation if you have an idea you think is good, but you’re not excited about it.

Once I’ve come up with a few ideas, I’ll make sure that we’re capable of creating them as a studio. And that it’s an experience everyone can get behind.

Here’s an example:

Our most recent game, Horse Life, is where the player tames wild horses and breeds them to create unique combinations of colors and appearances.

Though many other horse games compete for attention, none of them focused on the breeding aspect. None allowed players to combine the looks of their horses, which is where Horse Life fits in.

2. Sleep on your ideas –When I conceived ideas, I let them rest for a while and returned to them about a day later.

I do this because when I take a rest from the ideas and revisit them later, I can assess them more objectively.

The rule of thumb is if the idea still sounds good when I revisit it, then I keep going.

But oftentimes I no longer liked them anymore.

3. Make sure there is a demand for your ideas –You can have the greatest game idea in the world, if it doesn’t serve the players’ needs, then no one will play your game.

After shipping 11 games to over 3 million Roblox users, here are the 4 things that I noticed they care about:

1. Interactions that are enjoyable across devices
2. Ability to socialize
3. Capability to customize display avatar
4. “Fun”

To clarify what I mean by “fun”, some people will find grinding fun; others won’t. However, here’s a framework of different types of fun that most people will have by Marc LeBlanc:

4. Make sure the niche is not too competitive – Look for areas with less competition. Instead of jumping into crowded genres like survival or PvP, try to find a new angle or mechanic that can set your game apart.

I balance picking an idea in a less-crowded niche to stand out and at the same timeappeal to a diverse audience to attract more players.

For example, a platformer would have an easy mode with wider platforms, fewer hazards, and checkpoints. A hard mode could have time limits, more complex games and level layouts, and limited lives.

5. Identify gaps in existing games that are performing well –You don’t need an original idea to succeed. Taking and improving an existing idea can be as successful if executed properly.

For example, Palworld—essentially an iteration of Pokémon with shooter genre dynamics—has earned $442 million gross from January 19, 2024 to March 4, 2024.

Another example is the Roblox game Mad City, which inspired themes similar to Jailbreak, and both could share an audience.

Here is a comparison between the two:

As you can see there’s always something missing from an existing idea. For example,Palworld gave Pokémon more crafting mechanics, guns, and the ability to make your Pals work for you.

All of which is what players wanted.

Here is how you identify and fill in these gaps:

1. Research and analyze the Roblox market
2. See what game mechanics they use and what’s missing
3. Look at reviews to see what players crave (e.g., cooler monsters, deeper stories)
4. Create a game that improves upon the current one by incorporating those features you identified.

For example, I enjoy fantasy games with creatures in them. At the same time, I have a lot of my own ideas for systems to build upon those fantasy concepts.

From there, I’ll try to create game experiences to fill those gaps on the platform.

Here are some additional resources to see and tips to consider when helping with your research:

• Twitter / X, YouTube, etc.– Follow influencers and developers. They frequently discuss what’s hot in the Roblox community.
• Developer Forum– Folks discuss up-and-coming ideas, making the forums a hotbed of potential trends.
• Roblox Blog– They often publish posts on popular concepts and emerging trends.

As you are brainstorming ideas, keep in mind that the most popular games on the Roblox platform tend to have strong social themes and mechanics. As well as themes of collection and progression.

Here are some ideas (original and not) that you could build upon:

Idea 1: Cozy Life Roleplay

• Appeal: Relaxation, self-expression, and building friendly communities.
• Potential Features: House customization, fishing, farming, town events, collectible items for decorating, and emphasis on player-to-player trading.
• Stand Out: Unique art style and graphics, quirky characters, focus on seasonal content and updates to keep things fresh.

Some of the biggest hits on Roblox are simple open-world roleplaying games.

Developers create a world with buildings, shops, and things to do, then players take over and make it their own. It’s not the most complex type of game, but it’s a great starting point.

If you go this route, focus on relaxation, customization, and social interaction. Think of it as a way players could set up their own lives and play “house.”

Here’s an example of an experience someone else did (kind of):

Idea 2: Narrative-Driven Exploration

• Appeal: Intriguing story, mystery, atmosphere over action.
• Potential Features: Environmental puzzles, discovering hidden areas, dialogue choices with subtle consequences, collectibles with lore attached.
• Stand Out: Strong writing, memorable setting, and visuals that reinforce the mood (not just aiming for realism).

Puzzles, environmental storytelling, and choices that subtly change the experience. Appeal to those who want a less action-focused game.

Use these examples as inspiration:

Idea 3: “Fix-It” Tycoon

• Appeal: Satisfying progression, creativity in rebuilding, light management aspects.
• Potential Features: Buying dilapidated properties, hands-on renovation tools, hiring quirky staff, attracting visitors, balancing budget vs. improvements.
• Stand Out: Humorous tone, themed properties (haunted mansion, abandoned waterpark), outlandish upgrades.

Players inherit rundown properties (theme park, zoo, etc.). Gameplay is about creative renovation, business management, and satisfying upgrades.

This example involves repairing cars—maybe you could consider that as property:

Idea 4: Skill-Based Obstacle Course (Obby) Extravaganza

• Appeal: Pure challenge, competition, mastering crazy mechanics.
• Potential Features: Wild course design (moving platforms, wacky physics), customizable characters, leaderboards, spectator mode for watching others.
• Stand Out: Unique movement abilities (grappling hooks, wall-running, etc.), courses that evolve over time, and silly cosmetics as rewards.

Lean into chaotic movement mechanics and wild level design. Rewards player mastery over luck, attracting a competitive crowd.

Turn down your device’s volume before watching this example:

Phase 2: Pre-production, prove your game idea is enjoyable and replayable

Once you have a design idea in mind, you need to prove it with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

1. Create the simplest version of your game that’s usable.

In this situation, just set up a base for your product, which provides only the core interactions. In other words the simplest version of your core gameplay loop.

At this stage, make sure you avoid designing and developing systems not integral to completing the core loopsuch as:

• Social interactions
• Quests
• Or any other nice-to-haves

Save these for later production.

For example, in our MVP for Horse Life, we only designed how the horses move within the world and breed first.

In this case, it’s the loop is as follows:

Simple? Yah.

Here is our thought process:Horse Life relies on the breeding aspect as its core loop and what makes it unique. It then led us to think about how players would acquire the horses.

Thus, we added basic taming methods in the MVP phase, which developed our full loop.

This loop has the potential to be enjoyable because it focuses on the nurturing and customization of unique horses. It appeals to players who enjoy animal care simulations and those who like collecting and breeding.

It’s a breakaway from typical grinds in games that often become exhausting due to the element of surprise and anticipation.

Note:Make sure your loop isn’t too long and gritty, or else it will exhaust the player. Instead, minimize their cognitive load by keeping it simple so they’ll have a good time.

With an MVP in place, time to…

2. Test it to confirm that other players also love your idea.

To find these players, you need to first build a community.

When you first start out, don’t worry too much about the size. Keep in mind that even a small group of testers will be essential to providing feedback and expressing their feelings about the game.

Roblox games experience fast iteration and expect monthly if not weekly updates to maintain success because of these testers.

I’ve seen games that took months or even years to develop often make the mistake of not utilizing the community to garner feedback and opinions, which results in a completely untouched game that won’t take off.

The faster you iterate, the quicker you’ll hit product market fit.

Here is what I recommend:

• Make a Roblox Group– This centralizes discussion and provides an official hub for your community.
• Set up a profile on X(formerly Twitter)and a group on Discord– Share development updates, screenshots, and teasers to generate initial interest.
• Collaborate with influencers– Reach out to Roblox YouTubers and Twitch streamers who create content on a game with similar themes and experiences.
• Post on r/Robloxgamedev– Showcase your progress and potentially receive pointers.
• Link all socials together–For instance, link to your Twitter and Discord groups on YouTube video descriptions. Then, post links for all of these pages on your Roblox Developer profile.
  
• Stay on top of posting even the most simple of accomplishments. The community loves to see progress regardless of size.

When you’re testing your MVP, I recommend keeping your game’s settings to private group access.

Once you’ve proven your idea with your MVP, time to double down more resources.

Phase 3: Early production, alpha release and test

At this phase make sure you focus on rapidly iterating your core loopand expanding on features that lift the loop to make it even more enjoyable.

In addition, we, for instance, would also ensure mobile playability if we have the capacity so we can get early feedback. Here is why…

Since December 2023, 80% of Roblox players use mobile devices, 18% use desktops, and only 2% use consoles.

The key to increasing the chances of your game’s success in the phase is to:

1. Set realistic short-term goals.
2. Hyper-prioritize the most requested features by the players. From experience, there are very few features that will make the most impact.

Save the less popular, but nice-to-have features for the full release.

In our game Horse Life, the majority of players enjoy:

• Taming horses
• Breeding horses for fun
• Breeding horses with an “end vision” goal in mind, whether its for cosmetics or stats
• Training their horses and exploring

We built our core features to be flexible and reusable. For example, our new spirit boss tames still use lassos, but with a twist: players can make “mistakes” and lose them, sending them back to buy more.

This keeps things fresh without having to create entirely new systems from scratch. We’ll keep building on our core features like this to make them more engaging over time.

In terms of playeracquisition, Just continue the same advertising and promotional efforts during the MVP stage here. Since you’re essentially doing the same tasks such as sharing weekly updates in your Discord and social channels.

Also as your game starts to mature, you’ll want to have a larger pool of player base to provide feedback.

Note: Don’t worry about monetization at this stage yet because your game is still rough and you’ll lose players if you try to monetize. So keep it free to play or private group access.

Phase 4: Production, beta release and test

In this phase, your main focus is to prepare your project for a full release, which involves the following

1. Build additional features upon the core loop based on player feedback.

Unless there is a critical bug, you can further polish the already working features of your game later as long as your game is fun.

You won’t need to update your game as often as your gameplay becomes more structured and refined.

In Horse Life, we’re constantly expanding the lasso mechanic. For example, we’re using it as the basis for a ‘Whack-a-mole’ style fishing minigame. Where players click on active fishing holes with their rods. We want each expansion to keep things interesting and prevent the player from getting bored.

As for breeding, we’re adding more species, traits, colors, and even cool “power-up” mutations, like having twins or double-jumping. This will give players more options and make breeding a more engaging experience.

2. Working on early and late-stage game progression to ensure longer healthy content sinks for the player to enjoyably engage with.

This means iterating fast by pushing out concepts quickly to test content will help ensure the project moves constantly and doesn’t stagnate.

Because if a project stagnates, your community loses interest. And it’s much harder to win back users than to retain them in the first place.

For example, early on in Horse Life, we worked on major social features that encourage player and economic interactions.

This included mechanics such as:

• Trading items.
• Horse auctioning.
• Market stands to sell items they’ve obtained

These gave players ways to help friends, trade their items, etc.

As our game grows, we’ll focus less on big new features and more on adding content every week to keep things fresh and exciting.

Make sure you prioritize implementing the features and content based on your community’s feedback.

The most common mistake I’ve seen at this stage is that the developer releases content or changes that an audience disagrees with or doesn’t need. This happens because they don’t utilize their community’s feedback.

As your game becomes more polished…

3. Start focusing on console compatibility as you begin focusing on your game’s economy.

This will set the stage for the full release and monetization phase.

Regarding monetization, we’re all about finding the sweet spot between what players find valuable and what can help us keep the lights on. We’ll check our game analytics or ask the community to see what players need.

We want to find what features are valuable to the player. From there, we’ll know where to focus and which features are worth investing in.

It’s important not to overdo monetization. Consider how free-to-play players will feel regarding paid content, as it’s not ideal to completely lock it off from them. I’ll provide examples of how we balanced monetization and consideration for F2P players in a bit.

Notes:In this stage, ifthe game has valuable content and the players enjoy it, you should definitely offer paid. Otherwise, keep it free to play or private group access, especially if your gameplay is still rough and your audience is still small.

4. Start increasing your player acquisition resource sink.

By this point, if there has been constant work to build a community since the MVP and testing phase of the game, there should already be a small amount of players interested in the game.

To get more players, ensure your game is discoverable on Roblox. Help make your game more find(able) by adding the following:

• Game thumbnail
• Icon
• Tags that describe what your game may include (e.g., unicorns).
• Searchable title
• Well-made game description.
• Player count within the game relies on the type of game and how well it’s optimized for all devices.

Here is what these look like for Horse Life during our Beta release:

In addition, ramp up your advertising on your Roblox group, Twitter, Discord, and any social channels.

With this approach to marketing, we’ve pulled in hundreds of thousands of new players daily since our official launch.

How do you know when to move away from the beta testing phase?

You’ll know you’re ready for a game launch when there are really no more core systems to add.

In Horse Life’s final beta stages, we asked ourselves “Does this need to be released in beta, or can we save it for a post-launch update?”

Our team realized that a bunch of the features we were testing could wait until after the game was out. We decided to go ahead and release it sooner. It might not be perfect yet, but we figured it’s better to get it into players’ hands and keep working on it.

Phase 5: Release, post-release, and monetization

At the beginning of the phase, the release of your Roblox game must have both your main core loop finished, and your base game monetization ready to go.

If this is done well, here is what your KPIs should look like:

However, making a game public does not need to be a fully completed product.

Here’s what I recommend for post-release

1. Start implementing the nice-to-have ideas you deprioritized throughout the alpha and beta phases.

Here are some examples of what we saved for post-release:

• Improving trading and auctions
• Boss tames (late-game interactions)
• Quality of life updates
• Minigames
• Dynamic breeding methods
• Special ways to tame unique horses.

Focusing on improving the player’s social interactions and late-game development goals lets us work on some early/mid game or monetization strategies that don’t overshadow the social experience.

This is where we start brainstorming ways to tame horses beyond the usual lasso method. We don’t want all the cool fantasy horses to be easily accessible. Thus, we need to get creative and come up with some unique challenges for players to overcome.

2. You’ll need to create content frequently to keep players happy.

Keep in mind that the players consume content quickly. In Roblox, they’ll need a somewhat frequent content release schedule to maintain interest and excitement with the game.

However, if they encounter game-breaking bugs, you’ll need to prioritize those as soon as possible.Otherwise, spread the updates out to once a month (at least).

Our updates for Horse Life will focus on cosmetics for horses like:

• Accessories
• Traits
• Horse colors
• New horse species

This will keep things fresh for players while we work on bigger additions like new horse breeds to tame.

3. What to consider with monetization.

There are so many players who interact with a game. Ensuring you hit various playstyles is vital to ensuring a healthy economy.

For instance, ways for the players to either boost progression or get specific items they want can also help everyone feel like their money is being personalized when spent.

One common newbie mistake when it comes to monetization is relying on game passes. These are one-time purchases that permanently buff the player in various ways.

What’s more ideal is letting players play your game for free, then have repeatable in-game microtransactionsthat they continue to engage with if they find it adds to their experience.

Make sure all players can find a purchase that adds to their individual experience, such as:

• Cosmetics
• Buffs
• Core game progression

One of the micropurchases we added in Horse Life are randomly generated horses. There’s the basic option, which is 199 Robux and an exclusive one that’s 499 Robux.

These horses come with boosted traits that usually take hoursof breeding to achieve. They’re also better than what players would typically find in the wild.

Players DON’T need to buy it. So, think of these horses as a fast pass.

Most Roblox games that find success are free, or like TreeLands, don’t have a high barrier to entry.

Bloxburg is another amazing example with more than 13 million favorites. But there are rumors of them going free-to-play.

The type of game that I’m suggesting you make is called the free-to-play (F2P) model. It’s so effective that almost 85% of the video game industry revenue is generated through this model in 2024 (according to WePC).

Riot Game’s world-famous flagship MOBA, League of Legends, is one of the first Desktop games that’s monetized with this model.

Some Common Roblox Development Questions I Haven’t Addressed Yet

Is it easy to make a Roblox game?

Making a game on Roblox for the first time is easy in some aspects, but making one that’s “successful” is difficult.

Some have made over 200 projects with only two succeeding. They said those two projects were worth it.

It’s easy to pick up Roblox Studio itself and fiddle with the tools and interface. However, physically designing a game in your mind, and replicating that inside the Roblox Studio engine is difficult.

And monetizing it successfully is even more difficult. Just because you find success and many players engage with the game, doesn’t mean it would be more profitable.

That relies on your knowledge of micropurchases and how to monetize the game to its audience.

It requires incredible dedication and patience from an individual to actually launch a playable product.

How much does it cost to make a Roblox game?

It’s free to do it yourself.

What if you want someone to develop the game for you? You’ll need to pay them at least minimum wage in your area (if not more) for their knowledge and skills.

Find people on the Developer Forum(Collaborationcategory) and Talent Hubwho would work on commission. The cost can range from a couple of hundred dollars for beginner developers to thousands of dollars for experts.

Costs will depend on the developer’s knowledge and experience.

Should I create a dev team to make a Roblox game?

Many Roblox experiences thrive on a solo developer model. Here’s an example of a developerwho created a fun, detailed game after a couple of years of work.

If your game demands diverse technical skills (building, scripting, animation), a team becomes valuable. Find them on the Talent Hub, Developer Forum, or freelance websites like Upwork.

There’s no ideal size. The number of people needed depends on your budget and the project’s complexity. However, it’s wise to start solo, and then consider expanding if your game gains traction.

On Roblox, it’s realistic to solo-dev a game. You can learn any of the minimum tools required to launch a basic project for free. Not only coding knowledge but Roblox’s marketplace of free assets to use can help solo engineers who may not need to build a studio.

—

I learned my skills on YouTube. Having developer friends also made things easier. They could help me make sense of the videos I was watching and how I could actually apply that knowledge to games.

Should I get funding to make a successful Roblox game?

No. Funding won’t help you learn vital skills for growing a community from scratch. From what I’ve seen, most game developers with successful front-page launches had no funding.

Once you familiarize yourself with the common development strategies and have experience launching projects on the platform, seek funding.

Furthermore, you’ll want to avoid funding because your investors expect a return. Putting pressure on you and/or your studio.

So how much can Roblox games make?

According to Bloomberg, more than 12,000 Roblox game developers earned $10,000 to $100,000 in 2023, after converting earned Robux to their currency.

Over 29% of them earned $10,000. And around 6.25% of those developers earned $100,000.

What knowledge and experience do I need to realistically make successful Roblox games?

There are 3 things you need to increase your chances of making a successful Roblox game

1. Understand the players and what types of games they enjoy.

Around 60% of Roblox players are under 16. This age group typically wants customization and social interactions in their games. For instance, 54% of teensplay online games with friends they don’t know in person.

You’ll need to know your games’ objectives to encourage social interactions and engage players. Meanwhile, you’ll need to learn what cosmetic items your player base would actually spend money on.

2. Understand the trends in the Roblox marketplace.

You can understand the players and trends by actually playing Roblox games. Immersing yourself into the community that you want to make Roblox games for will put you in a position to embody and observe the players you’ll potentially develop for.

For example, this is how I noticed the market gap in creating Horse Life. I played other horse games that were missing features like breeding.

I noticed many players and I wanted this specific feature. So, I added it to my game.

3. Then there’s your ability to bring your ideas to life.

To do this you’ll need to learn everything about the Roblox Studio user interface to properly utilize it. And to create more unique games, you’ll have to learn the Lua scripting language.