How to get Qualified Play Through Rate Higher & Into Benchmarks?

[CoolJohnnyboy (John)]

My game, 2 Player Military Tycoon was completely overhauled and redone a couple of months ago. I’d say that the redo was a pretty successful venture, since the game went from YEARS of abysmal statistics and ~0 CCU to decent stats and good CCU.

Stats are decent; playtime is very solid, monetization sits at around 3-5 ARPDAU, and retention hovers around 10%. We had around 1.5k CCUs for most of the previous weekend.

I think the game can still grow a ton, but I’ve been told that my QPTR holds the game back from getting double, triple, or even more the CCUs it does now.

I’ve tried TONS of thumbnails and icons. I probably paid almost 1,000 USD+ for them in November and December. But nothing consistently hits even the bottom benchmark(s)…

I’ve had people tell me to use AI to make icons like seen below:

I’ve used AI before for icons but they never come out as nice as these, and using AI to make icons feels pretty wrong to do.

I’m trying to avoid using slop/clickbaity stuff since A) It never worked for me and B) I know ROBLOX is targeting that sort of stuff now.

What am I doing wrong? What should I do instead? Does anyone have any recommendations?

[DragonKillerboy1098 (Giyuu)]

I recommend trying to go for more cartoony style of icons and leaning away from realistic. You should stop tryin got avoid it and instead embrace it especially if nothing else is working.

[CoolJohnnyboy (John)]

I have used plenty of cartoony icons, and they have performed worse than “realistic” ones.

[FlyingFrets (daniel)]

i’ve been dealing with this issue for so long myself, it’s almost like it’s RNG. literally thousands of robux down the drain for thumbnails and barely any results

[L3G3NDARY_STARITE (Cena)]

It’s pretty the same for me, Testing each day and nothing goes above 0.4% in personalization.

[CoolJohnnyboy (John)]

I’ve probably commissioned a dozen or more icons and thumbnails since my development group and I overhauled 2 Player Military Tycoon. I’ve spent probably close to 1,000 USD (more or less, and including robux in this number) trying to get thumbnails and icons that would get good CTR, and nothing ever changes. I’ve even paid $$$ for a single icon made by reputable people who have a history of very high QPTR thumbnails, and theirs didn’t work.

As you can see, there was only one point of about a week where 2PMT’s QPTR was within the benchmark.

The thumbnail at the top of the list, the Juggernaut one, was the same one that was getting 2%+ QPTR during that week long period I mentioned before; now its QPTR is absolute dogcrap.

I’ve tried using cashgrabby-style icons, like seen below,

I’ve tried using thumbnails using IRL stuff like tanks (as you can see in the list of thumbnails), I’ve tried using AI stuff like seen below,

I’ve even tried using goofy brainrot icons like below,

(the above style worked well for my friend @jdevved but this style got me single-digit QPTR, worse than what I have now),

Nothing did significantly better than the other, and the QPTR for every thumbnail would at maximum get 0.20%-0.50%, well below the benchmark.

I’ve had a lot of people say that having “2 Player” at the start of the game name is probably the reason for the QPTR being so bad, and suggest renaming the game to “Military Tycoon [2 Player]” but I feel that would be kinda scummy to do, to try tricking players into thinking that my game was another game (even if my game came WAY before that other game), but it would probably work. Would also probably tank my stats when people realize that my game is not the Military Tycoon they were looking for.

I’ve pretty much given up, to be quite honest. I rely on running sponsors to keep the game’s CCUs going.

[michaelvanderfin]

We are having this same issue with our experience Tropical Resort Tycoon 2 🌴 - Roblox.

30+ thumbnails over the course of a few months, and we’ve even tried changing our name — no luck at all. Looking at your QPTR graph, we also had the same boost in November right around the same time, for the exact same length as you. I’m willing to bet that was almost a fluke due to the personalized thumbnail testing just being released. We have also never had luck since then either.

Low QPTR is the single stat holding our experience back, and it feels so wrong to us that we’re in the 0th percentile. We’re no longer sure what there is left to do besides let our game die, despite having just about every other stat in or above benchmarks.

[CoolJohnnyboy (John)]

I’ve heard a rumor that ROBLOX’s QPTR system/'the algorithm" prioritizes newly-created games; your game is about 2 years old now and has 70M+ games, maybe the algorithm doesn’t consider that new enough.

I’ve also heard it’s been giving crap priority to tycoons of any kind

[jackjenningsdev]

@CoolJohnnyboy

and suggest renaming the game to “Military Tycoon [2 Player]” but I feel that would be kinda scummy to do

First things first - Military Tycoon has a pending trademark application. In the very near future you will not be able to use the words “Military Tycoon” in your game name anymore. Being called “Two Player Military Tycoon” is likely NOT different enough to get you a pass.

Since your game is older, you very likely have grounds to challenge Gamefam’s application but that would be an expensive process and require a trademark attorney. If you do not want to bother challenging their trademark application, you need to find a new name because you will be committing trademark infringement even if your game first.

The above is not legal advice; I am not a trademark attorney, and could be over-emphasizing the problem; but given the similarities between your game name and Gamefam’s pending trademark, you need to consult a trademark attorney if you’re going to keep using the words “Military Tycoon” in your game or your game will be at risk of getting taken down.

In terms of improving your qPTR, two important notes:

• In terms of actual thumbnail, something that highlights the human element works best. This is also good advice for @michaelvanderfin to consider. Show off players interacting in your games. Seeing positive user-user interaction is the main selling point for most Roblox games and almost always contributes to an increased click-through rate on thumbnails and icons.
• Remember that the “qualified” part can matter more than the “play through rate” part. If your game has a substantial drop-off in the new-user experience, that can be hurting you. It may not be reflected in your average session time, especially if users that stay past ~3 minutes tend to stay for a long time - but trying to boost the early-game retention can cause your qPTR to go up substantially.

[CoolJohnnyboy (John)]

@jackjenningsdev

First things first - Military Tycoon has a pending trademark application. In the very near future you will not be able to use the words “Military Tycoon” in your game name anymore. Being called “Two Player Military Tycoon” is likely NOT different enough to get you a pass.

Since your game is older, you very likely have grounds to challenge Gamefam’s application but that would be an expensive process and require a trademark attorney. If you do not want to bother challenging their trademark application, you need to find a new name because you will be committing trademark infringement even if your game first.

The above is not legal advice; I am not a trademark attorney, and could be over-emphasizing the problem; but given the similarities between your game name and Gamefam’s pending trademark, you need to consult a trademark attorney if you’re going to keep using the words “Military Tycoon” in your game or your game will be at risk of getting taken down.

GameFam has had that trademark symbol in the Military Tycoon title for quite some time now. I’ve noticed sometimes they will have it, sometimes they won’t. In either case, I assumed they already had the trademark (can they not get in trouble for presenting something as trademarked even if it isn’t?), and no one had tried to DMCA me or my group over it. If it happens, I will contest it, since it will be a major hit to the income of myself and my development group.. I will look into consulting an attorney.

@jackjenningsdev

In terms of actual thumbnail, something that highlights the human element works best. This is also good advice for @michaelvanderfin to consider. Show off players interacting in your games. Seeing positive user-user interaction is the main selling point for most Roblox games and almost always contributes to an increased click-through rate on thumbnails and icons.

I’ve already used icons like this, amongst numerous other ones I’ve stated I’ve used in my earlier posts. Nothing seems to budge it.

@jackjenningsdev

Remember that the “qualified” part can matter more than the “play through rate” part. If your game has a substantial drop-off in the new-user experience, that can be hurting you. It may not be reflected in your average session time, especially if users that stay past ~3 minutes tend to stay for a long time - but trying to boost the early-game retention can cause your qPTR to go up substantially.

The game has an average playtime that ranges from the mid to low teens (in minutes). I don’t think early game engagement is hurting us that much, if at all.

[jackjenningsdev]

@CoolJohnnyboy

I assumed they already had the trademark

The trademark has been under an “Application” status for some time. It’s not currently registered, which means it’s not currently enforcable, but it likely will be soon.

can they not get in trouble for presenting something as trademarked even if it isn’t?

The “TM” symbol indicates an unregistered trademark, and there are no legal restrictions on its use. In this case it’s being used to indicate they have a trademark application underway, but registration has not yet been granted. The ® (R) symbol indicates a registered trademark, and is protected.

If it happens, I will contest it, since it will be a major hit to the income of myself and my development group.

The time to look into this is “as soon as possible”, because once the trademark is registered, it may not be possible to contest it. The point of public filings is that you have a specific period in which to contest the trademark application before it is accepted.