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玩家自制时代:Roblox平台是如何盈利的?

发布时间:2018-06-13 09:28:31 Tags:,,

玩家自制时代:Roblox平台是如何盈利的?

原文作者:Matt Suckley 译者:Megan Shieh

欢迎回到In-App Purchase Inspector,在这里我们会以消费者的视角,定期测评一些F2P游戏。

每期文章,我们都会考虑游戏中IAP的诱因、压力、它们的感知价值、IAP带来的扩展内容还有整个游戏体验的评估。

最终目的就是看看这款游戏究竟值不值得我们砸钱,不花钱的游戏体验是否也能让玩家感到满足。

本期我们要聊的是玩家自制游戏平台Roblox, PC版Roblox于2006年正式上线,而移动版随后也于2012年推出。据悉,该作在所有平台上的每月活跃用户高达6400万。

人们常把Roblox和《我的世界(Minecraft)》联系到一起,因为它们有一个“用户生成内容”的共享核心,而且玩家也大多都是年轻人,但Roblox的知名度可能没有《我的世界》那么高。

与其说Roblox是一款游戏,不如说它是一套简单的编辑工具,而且它还是这些玩家自制游戏的中枢。

显然,“玩家自制”会导致游戏质量间的巨大差异,没有了专业游戏设计师的参与,游戏质量往往可见一斑。

当你在移动版Roblox上玩这些游戏的时候,许多缺陷变得尤为明显——操作系统过于繁琐、横向和竖向屏幕间的转换不够灵活、UI优化不足等。

(尽管去年的9200万美元投资中有很大一部分被指定用于改善移动体验,但很明显,移动设备仍旧不是Roblox的主要平台。)

但是,这些小问题最终都被Roblox的多平台吸引力所压倒,能够做到“支持跨平台操作”绝对不是一件容易的事。

Roblox中的唯一货币是“Robux”,成捆销售、每捆售价低于9.99美元(至少在一开始的时候是这个价格)。估计是因为受众多为年轻人,所以初始价格定得比较低。

rob lox starter pack(from pocketgamer.biz)

rob lox starter pack(from pocketgamer.biz)

玩家可以用Robux为自己的“化身”购买服装和佩饰,此类物品的价格取决于它们的稀有度和实用价值。

较为稀有的物品可能需要花费成千上万个Robux。例如,一件名为“The Dog Whisperer”的面具售价为5万Robux,相当于600多美元真钱。

不过,Roblox为普通玩家也提供了许多选项,这些商品的价格会便宜很多。

限量商品的价值会随着用户的需求而波动,在Roblox的商店页面上有一些曲线图表,这些图表展示的是每款限量商品在过去180天里的价值波动,因此有许多用户在该平台上做起了转卖虚拟物件的生意。

下面,让我们来谈谈Roblox的虚拟经济中最有趣的部分:

玩家可以通过这款“游戏”赚到钱,而且这些“钱”还不局限于Robux。

据悉,Roblox上最为成功的几款游戏的创作者每月能够通过内购获得高达25万美元的收入,有位创作者在2017年间获得了超过300万美元的收入,也有另外一些人借助自己的Roblox作品赚到了100多万美元。

评估Roblox的难处在于:它的盈利效率完全取决于创作者作品的好坏。

有些游戏带有非常成熟的盈利模式,比如一款名为《Rocket Fuel Jailbreak》的热门游戏,该游戏带有自己的新手包IAP,而且玩家还可以在这款游戏中购买包含了随机物品的“保险箱”。

有些游戏甚至有自己的付费货币,可以用Robux购买;还有很多游戏只提供简单的“付费跳过关卡”;而另外一些游戏的菜单设计得一塌糊涂,以至于玩家有时无法分辨哪些是可供购买的物品。

然而这并不奇怪,Roblox上的游戏有好有坏,而这些游戏的盈利模式自然也是好坏参半。

移动版的Roblox中没有“创作模式”,然而,创作功能正是该平台的核心吸引力所在。

不过,许多(不是全部)通过PC和Mac版Roblox Studio创建的游戏都可以放到移动版Roblox上玩。

创作者俱乐部(Roblox Builders Club)的成员可以升级为普通(Classic),中级(Turbo)和超级(Outrageous)会员。每月订阅费用分别是5.95、11.95和19.95美元,而年费则分别是57.95、85.95和129.95美元。

首次注册成为会员可立即获得100个Robux作为奖励,而普通、中级和超级订阅会员每天分别可以获得15、35和60个免费Robux。

用户若想访问“交易系统”或出售内容,至少需要注册成为普通会员,普通会员可以分别创建和加入10个团队;而中级和超级会员则可以创建并加入更多团队。(游戏邦注:“团队”相当于Roblox上的“迷你工作室”。)

虽然这些创作者不能直接在移动设备上进行创作,但一批年轻的设计师已经通过这个平台在为自己和Roblox赚钱了。

总结:一个复杂到可以装下其他生态系统的生态系统,Roblox的盈利模式好坏完全取决于使用者的才能。

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Welcome back to the In-App Purchase Inspector – our regular look at free-to-play games from the consumer’s perspective.

In each instalment, we consider the incentives or pressure applied to make in-app purchases, their perceived value, the expansion offered by IAPs and the overall value of the experience.
The end goal is to see whether the game makes a good enough case for us to part with our cash, or whether players are content – or engaged enough – to ‘freeload’.

This time we’re taking a look at Roblox, a popular platform for user-generated games. Launched first on PC in 2006, then on mobile in 2012, it has a reported 64 million monthly active users across all platforms.

Do It Yourself

Often likened to Minecraft, owing to a shared core of user-generated content and a primarily young player base, Roblox isn’t quite as well-known as Mojang’s voxel-based phenomenon.

Roblox is less a game in itself, more a suite of simple editing tools and a hub for the games they’re used to create.

This obviously leads to wildly varying levels of quality, with the absence of a professional games designer’s touch often abundantly clear.

It’s also very apparent when playing on mobile that this is not Roblox’s primary platform – though much of last year’s $92 million investment is said to have been earmarked for improving the mobile experience – with fiddly controls, switching between landscape and portrait, and some poorly optimised UI.

But these niggles are outweighed by the appeal of Roblox being genuinely multiplatform, which is no mean feat.

Following the trends

Roblox’s only currency is Robux, which is sold – initially at least, presumably because of its young audience – in bundles no higher than $9.99.

These can be used to buy clothing and accessories for your avatar, which range in rarity and value.

Rarer items can cost several thousand Robux – one rare face piece called The Dog Whisperer goes for 50,000, which is more than $600 in real money – while for average players there are plenty of options at far more affordable prices.

The value of limited items also fluctuates according to demand, with graphs on the store page charting the item’s value over the past 180 days, which feeds into a thriving business of resellers.

Self-made

This brings us to one of the most interesting aspects of Roblox’s economy: that players can actually make a profit through the game.

This isn’t just limited to Robux, either. Those responsible for the most successful games in Roblox are reportedly earning as much as $250,000 per month through in-game purchases – though the precise cut they receive of in-game purchases is not publicly stated – becoming in effect “mini studios” within the Roblox ecosystem.

One Roblox creator made more than $3 million in 2017, and others have also reportedly earned more than $1 million from their creations.

The inherent difficulty with assessing Roblox’s monetisation, then, is that it’s almost entirely down to the implementation of the creator.

Some games offer surprisingly sophisticated monetisation. A popular Roblox title called Rocket Fuel Jailbreak features purchasable safes, each containing a random selection of tiered items, and even has its own IAP Starter Pack.

Some even feature their own premium currencies, purchasable with Robux but game-specific.

Many others simply feature a paid level skip, while others have menus so badly designed that it’s difficult to tell what’s for sale.

It’s not altogether surprising; just as Roblox features both good and bad examples of game design, so too is its monetisation a mixed bag.

Building blox

The mobile version of Roblox cannot be considered the primary version because it lacks the very thing that makes it special: the create modes.

But it is nonetheless a platform on which many (though not all) of the games created through Roblox Studio on PC and Mac can be played.

Members of the Roblox Builders Club can upgrade to Classic, Turbo and Outrageous paid memberships. Monthly subscriptions range from $5.95 to $19.95, while yearly options are between $57.95 and $129.95.

Each provides an immediate signing-up bonus of 100 Robux, while Classic, Turbo and Outrageous subscriptions also offer respective rewards of 15, 35 and 60 Robux every day.

The Classic membership is the minimum requirement to access the trade system or sell content, while the higher subscription levels allow the player to create and become a member of more groups.

But while Roblox Builders cannot actually create on mobile, a young crop of designers are apparently very inspired by the monetisation of free-to-play mobile games – and they’re making money from mobile players for both Roblox and themselves. (Source: pocketgamer.biz


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