Creator Store: Buy and Sell Plug-Ins with Real-World Currency

I mean I might be wrong about this as I don’t really know what can be considered as a ‘subscription’ but what about Private Servers? They work similar to subscriptions, you pay a monthly amount and get something in return (in that case the private server).

You’re saying that subscriptions are in USD for regulations, how come private servers which work pretty much the same aren’t?

I believe in terms of legal or accounting for Roblox internally, private servers are not counted in the same way game subscriptions are (don’t ask me why, i dont know).

1 Like

Problem: Taxation
Solution: Remove Tax
Not Solution: Make plugins purchasable by USD$ only

You’re missing the point. The consumer base for those plugins will decrease severely. This will increase dissatisfaction amongst the consumers and decrease sales of plugins and increase piracy rates of said plugins. This will lead to situations where bad actors will distribute plugins with malware in it and put in risk those who use them - most of them being kids and teenagers who know little about computer security. Who cares about being an irresponsible financier when you don’t even have any money to be responsible for?

Can you make good games on roblox without plugins? Yes. Can you make all types of good games on roblox without plugins? No. At least it’s a ‘no’ if you think that the biggest action responsible for taking your time is doing things that plugins already do - Archimedes, Moon Animator, etc.

I don’t know about game studios outside of roblox but ‘in’ roblox? No. No. No again. I’ve worked for a plenty and all of them use plugins that are on the marketplace. I’ve actually never heard of anyone using their own private plugins for anything in the groups I’ve worked with. Perhaps you did. I haven’t.

Plugins that generate code on roblox marketplace are irrelevant as they make a small portion of plugins on the market.

Again, depends.

Well now they won’t earn anything LOL. The biggest plugin makers before the USD update were making sales 2-5 times every day with prices starting from thousands of robux. It only gets worse the further down you go in the marketplace. Now with the USD$ only update it’s only gonna get worse. I already warned you guys about this but you are none the wiser. Rich get richer. Poor get poorer. The ride never ends!

And ironically the plugin section has the smallest base of clients, which you know, will definitely negatively impact sales now that the plugins are sold only via USD$.

You’re right about that one. If you want to sell your plugin, then now it has to be better than others to make any good sales.

Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

2 Likes

This is not a solution.

I am not sure about that. It is much more convenient for new developers to purchase plugins with USD vs Robux. Before, a new developer would need to spend USD to buy Robux, then use the Robux to buy the plugin. It is much more direct.

This is the fault of the user. :slightly_smiling_face: You should always do research before downloading products. That is not at all Roblox’s fault.

Yes. The plugin is there to assist you. What if the plugin is no longer supported? Does the game need to be abandoned?

This applies to more than just generating code. :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like

Only point of yours I can somewhat agree with.

I have no hopes of making money on this platform anyways so I may as well give up tbh.


The solution is not to remove tax. It doesn’t work like that. How are we removing the DevEx fees which are something like 65%? That doesn’t solve anything. Special DevEx for plugins feels weird.

Monopoly money is not a solution for this.

Again, here’s my stance: ExperiencersInternational :lidl: 🇵🇸 (@experiencer) | Lethal Lava Land

3 Likes

I’m not sure what to say about this, honestly. Everybody already knows Roblox strives to make everything accessible for people of all ages, and is known for supporting and doing more stuff for their younger audience. This is definitely not supporting anybody, but people that can make money from a job, from commissions (which can be talent hub but that’s a different conversation for a different thread), or anything else, but for younger audiences, I don’t think this is the best and probably is forcing some to not even buy plugins at all.

The main point here is, you are limiting the majority of this platform (younger kids or people that can’t get USD or a payment handler), from making beautiful plugins and that can grow your skills.

Every single day, I check Community Resources in hope to support these people that might cannot use these payment handlers (Paypal, stripe, etc) and I give them feedback and if their plugin is for sale with some robux, I go ahead and buy it to support them. Now, I cannot because at that point, I’ll be bankrupt by the time I finish.

On another note, what are you going to do with Robux whenever you get them via your game? You obviously cannot buy anymore plugins because they will be forced to either do real life currency or to be free. DevEx rates absouly suck, and robux to USD rates suck, so who will be doing that? What use will Robux giftcards be now that we have to spend money for plugins (or models coming soon) that we want?

These are all things that need to be fixed, before we introduce this and take out a whole currency that Roblox relies on.

I’ll be completely honest, if I were in my younger years (which I’m 19 right now), it’ll turn me away from the platform immediately, no questions asked because I simply could not do it and I wouldn’t think my parents would buy me $100 (or more/less depending on the plugin) which will add up in the long run.

To the Roblox Staff that made this, I mean absolutely 0 hate to you. I think the user interface design is amazing and that this could be in our future, though right now, I think this need a bit more research on and some other things need to be lined in play here.

5 Likes

Yall should revert this decision or at least add robux as a payment option again :pray:

9 Likes

What should younger creators do right now until you guys find a solution to this problem?

This is a big concern on both sides of this, each is the same exact thing. The problem is deep in the value of Robux to USD, and USD to Robux because if you take away one of them, the value doesn’t add up or stuff becomes useless. It’s the way that Roblox is built.

Honestly, I think my point here is extremely valid (not to toot my own horn) . I think this is a good solution and a good start to a very addressed problem, but I feel like it needs a bit more research and development with people from the community before it is fully released.

Thank you guys, for releasing this (except it is too early, but it still shows) and showing us you guys knowing about these issues, that means a lot to me, and I’m sure other creators appreciate it too! This shows a lot to old Roblox, and it shows that Roblox still is listening and still is opened to feedback. :heart:

3 Likes

Make it so plugin developers can chose to sell them for real money OR robux

3 Likes

As a young plugin creator, I have created numerous innovative and even groundbreaking plugins that are overshadowed by less well made ones that are simply popular. Now that I’m only able to offer it for free or for prices nobody will buy, all of my sales are down the drain.

Rather than trying to give developers more money for plugin sales, perhaps you should EVALUATE the plugin using AI to determine if its a good plugin. That or use basic metrics on stuff like complexity, use, and rating (with a quick MAJOR boost for recently released unknown plugins that are determined to be potentially innovative such as mine)

I am having trouble having my genius plugins to explode. Roblox, stop focusing on the mega plugins and invite innovation. Give us small innovative guys a chance! My plugins are simply brilliant and extremely underrated, being better than 90% of the massive ones.

For example you know the Trello website? The website where you can create tasks? I MADE A ROBLOX PLUGIN that replicates that functionality! (Task Creator: Productivity) This is simply brilliant but roblox has constraints against innovation and does not allow such plugins to blow up. For example the plugin has only few sales while some random lighting plugin which just sets your lighting to futuristic has millions.

4 Likes

One of the worst updates in a long time, thanks!

7 Likes

Of course it is. Your problem was that your income is being taxed. Taxed. The word tax in question is causing your problem. If not for taxes then your income would be? Definitely not taxed. It’s a solution to the problem you’ve showed us but you don’t seem to actually believe in this problem.

No. It is not more convenient for new developers to purchase plugins with USD$. The reasons are plenty.

First of all, when plugins were purchaseable with robux, then you didn’t have to spend anything to actually buy said plugins. Seriously, you could earn robux without spending a penny and then use said robux to buy plugins. This was especially advantageous for those who live in poor socioeconomic conditions, especially in the 2nd and 3rd world.

Second of all, now you must give away even more information than before to be able to access basic functions of the website that you could have had in the past without giving your personal information away. This is especially bad for those who care about their private security and are aware that Roblox is a ticking bomb and at any given time someone can release a new list of breached information from the roblox databases. Same with Stripe, they’ve had their security problems in the past - and not so distant past may I add. It already happened on the start of this decade in 2021 I believe. The more services you put in between yourself and the product and the more information you give them the more probable it is for that information to get leaked.

Third of all, those who now cannot afford to buy those plugins for many reasons. One can be it because they cannot exchange their robux to real-life money through DevEx and don’t want to spend their real money. Second can be it that they simply cannot afford it because they don’t have money. I’ll surprise you, there are poor people among us and they can’t afford even basic plugins.

Fourth of all, the smallest developers will suffer the most as their plugins will be at the back of the store page and they will get the smallest amount of attention which will be unable to translate itself into anyone buying those plugins except for few rare exceptions. Previously they could sell their plugins for small prices and over time earn robux that they could spend elsewhere. This was possible because anyone could get robux without restrictions. Now it’s not. Now the consumer base will decrease. It literally decreased by over a half for the biggest plugin creators when they started pricing their plugins in thousands of robux. Although thanks to that they are on the front page they get the most attention - which means they get the most consumers as well.

Fifth, this will lead to an increase in piracy in plugins. This will decrease potential income of plugin creators and at the same time put people who download those pirated plugins at risk of being infected with malware inserted there by bad distributors. Nobody wins, except for those who spread the malware because Roblox game them the perfect environment to do so.

I have so many arguments against this update and I can’t even find a single argument in my head I would genuinely believe in for why this update is good. Not even one. All of the arguments you’ve presented me while logical, are unfortunately based on insufficient information, optimism and hope instead of calculated cold reason.

It’s literally Roblox’s fault because they created the environment to allow this. This update made piracy even more positive than before for those who couldn’t afford the plugins or thought they were too expensive or too hard to get. I am putting the blame not on the users, but on the Roblox. Because Roblox knew that they would do this. Roblox knew that people would have their accounts and computers compromised over this. Roblox ignored all of this and still decided to push this faulty update. Roblox did NOTHING to prevent this, only to give piracy everything it needs to grow. Stop supporting Roblox when it’s not going to support you.

What you said is irrelevant because I explained in detail why plugins are important for making games. Quote the entire argument and discuss it instead of picking words.

Then read above, I have never seen anyone being so masochistic as to not use any plugins available on the marketplace whatsoever despite being able to. That or I have never seen such a strict company on roblox that didn’t allow you to use plugins. Although if I have to think of one company that does, then I do have an idea which one it may be. Gamefam to be specific. And that’s not a good thing. Either way the point is that you should use plugins when you can because it helps with your work and not having access to it will severely impact the quality and speed of your work.

4 Likes

Case in point. This update will definitely not help creators like you. This will only push your consumers even further away from you if you choose to make your plugins purchaseable. As now their only option to buy your plugins - should you choose to make your plugins purchaseable - is to give away their real money and private information to a company with questionable reputation. If you even find a single person to do that then I will personally congratulate you - because I expect you to find none, at least not in the short term.

While I understand your concerns and want to thank you for agreeing with one of my points, I do have to point out that removing robux taxes for selling plugins would drastically improve your income without you even having to increase your prices. This is great not just for you but also for customers who won’t even feel anything and your sales will remain relatively the same after the update, as it would only affect you, the seller.

Developers were wanting completely 0-10% fees.

I recall the argument behind wanting lower fees that it doesn’t make sense that plugin developers were having to deal with the same amount of fees as game developers. Plugins are far less intensive than running a game server, most plugins are less than 1MB and don’t really require much else other than thumbnail storage.

Meanwhile for games, you have to handle having a lot more stuff. It just wasn’t fair.

Whilst I’m at it, I also think the fees on UGC are absurd, why is it more than everyone else? It’s not like it’s helping to prevent people stealing other people’s IP (such as this, which seems to be still up). Still horrified me that public UGC might be coming soon because Roblox can’t handle things now.


I’m not aware of how the payment process works, but I’m fairly sure when buying a plugin, all the money and information will go to Stripe right? I know you’ve pointed out concerns for both Stripe and Roblox so I can’t tell which one you’re referring to here.

I don’t think they care about the consumer base, they knew it would happen.

They want more money from it, that’s all. (even at the cost of making something inaccessible to people)

1 Like

Yeah. It sends you to a Stripe-owned website where you fill all of your credit card information.

When it comes to the latter it’s only for the sellers who need to give their ID and all of their personal information with it to Roblox. The buyers at least now don’t have to do that.

I understand that. The problem however does occur for both parties. The first party, the sellers, will suffer the problem of lower sales for reasons mentioned above. I think their sales will decrease. However, I am certain that all plugin creators on the 2nd and later pages will suffer financial losses from this, with losses increasing the further down the marketplace they are. As I’ve said, currently those on the top before the USD update were getting 2-5 sales every day with prices starting from thousands of robux. I expect those sales to drop by a half minimum. The buyer party is self-explanatory and I gave I believe 5 points as to why they lose on this update in this post: Creator Store: Buy and Sell Plug-Ins with Real-World Currency - #478 by ekcja1

1 Like

Add a Robux option, poof problem solved.

9 Likes

Why don’t you add an option to convert like 5.99$ to robux if you will buy a plugin?

What I mean:

  1. You decided to buy a plugin.
  2. The plugin says 5.99$
  3. You click on it and you have 2 options:
    a) Pay with real-world currency.
    b) Pay with robux (5.99$ to robux which basically means that 5.99$ converts into amount Robux and you can pay with robux and it will make it easier.)

Why did you even added it in the first place anyway?

7 Likes

I still do not understand, what bad things can happen if you just allow Robux to be an additional payment type?
You satisfy both sides, because apart from USD revenue, you also get Robux revenue, it may be taxxed to death by roblox, but it will still be some sort of income???

Honestly, i believe if you do that there will still be people that will use USD to buy plugins, a few reasons why:

  • They want to support the creator with a fair payment
  • They don’t want to waste robux for the plugin, and use USD instead because it may be more reliable? i guess

Like for real, Robux can be used for quite a bunch of things on the site, buying gamepass for your game, group related changes, etc…

Sometimes you’d want to keep robux for those kind of things, so those who can, will just use USD instead… Because that means they don’t waste robux on the plugin, meaning no need to buy more robux if they’d need it next time, and still pay the creator of the plugin they bought a good price.

Those who cannot afford USD pricing, will use Robux, and like whats so bad in that?
There will be income still, maybe taxxed by roblox as i said, but it will be an income

Plus there are alot of young developers out there, that might not be able to even buy plugins/and or if they’re from a country that doesnt support it.

Seriously why do you want to sabotage one side for another? You did your magic in the materials update, kept the old materials because people wanted that, (quite stupid thing to compare i know) and everyone was happy in the end, but here its apparently an issue…

i actually want someone to tell me what could go wrong if both options were kept. I’ll read through.

6 Likes

I have sold 7 copies of the plugin in the last 11 days.
Now I have to wait until I turn 18 in the summer…
And no, I’m not going to risk a false birth date when Stripe tells me that false information is punishable by perjury.

3 Likes