Most profitable monetization strategies?

Hey guys! I’m new to the forums, so if this is in the wrong section, it would be helpful if someone fixed that. :slight_smile:

I’m currently working on a game and I’m stumped on how to monetize it. It’s a game in which you gather resources to sell for gold, or you use to upgrade your base. Currently, the only resource you can gather is Wood. You can use gold to purchase weapons and axes. If you need any more information, feel free to ask for it.

My main question is how were some of your most profitable games monetized?
(I hope this doesn’t come across as greedy, because my intent for making a game is not for profit only.)

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Here are a few ideas:

  • Developer product that does Robux for Gold
  • Gamepass for boosted gold
  • Gamepass for boosted resource gather
  • Developer product for a better axe/weapons
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You could sell crates for random objects/tools, ranging from different types to different skins. You could also add in some aspect to enhance gameplay such as radio so they don’t have to listen to nothing.

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If you upgrade your base like a tycoon, then being able to purchase gold with Robux would probably be the best. Unless you introduce some new features

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First of all, thanks for the help! I really appreciate it. Have you had success with a premium currency only purchasable with robux? Do you have any other feature ideas that might help with monetization?

This post is kinda similar to this one. Maybe look through that and maybe you’ll find something useful for what you need.

There’s also an article from a roblox dev on Medium about monetization.

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You have to make the user feel like they are getting value from whatever you are offering them.

The first purchase is ALWAYS the hardest sell, so for new users you should make a ‘special deal’ that gives them a lot of value for not a lot of robux. That’s why starter packs are so effective, they get the user to purchase something the instant they start playing, and it makes purchases in the future an easier sell.

I would also recommend a reward system, where the more you purchase the more rewards you get, like if the user purchased 3 items that cost robux you would in return reward them with some special item, like a weapon skin or in-game currency.

Also, never throw purchases at your players, and do not make the game pay to win.

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There are a lot of ways you can monetize your game, though there isn’t a single way that works for every game. Its all dependent on the community you have, and the best way for you to find out is to engage in the community and have statistics on what your players are enjoying most in your game, how they react to certain things in your game.

That being said, and with whats already been mentioned. You can go on about monitization several ways, for example you can make developer products / gamepasses that effect that player’s progression and/or game play, or you can make dev products / gamepasses that don’t effect the player’s progression though give the player something unique they can set themselves apart from others (Cosmetics).

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Obviously you can create developer products for every little thing and for bonuses but if you are looking for the best way to “market” your products, I’d say in-game currency.

Based on experience, I’d say that if every product can be purchased only using in-game currency, people are more likely to purchase because they see it as something unique, not just a prompt to get something using robux. Obviously you can still charge robux for the in-game currency.

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Here’s my advice,

There are many methods and not all methods will work for all types of games so you have to be careful about what you choose to do.

There are many ways of monetizing your game be creative and you’ll find a lot of methods.

So there is no “Secret Formular” to making the most profitable monetization strategy because every game is different.

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I am personally against the selling of randomized objects, as this could be arguably construed as gambling. This can propagate unhealthy behaviors in your children, and as developers we should be conscious of this and avoid these kind of monetization strategies.

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Absurdly cheap fidget spinner(5 or 10 robux) gamepass also works really well to get users to make a first purchase, its worked for every game i’ve put it in and it works great and its lots of fun to see the toy spin around and around :yum:.

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I mean some of the popular, featured ROBLOX games have had these types of customizations that emerge from “crates”. Perhaps gamepasses with each specific customization is best then.

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Monetizing games on Roblox can be influenced by a variety of real-world skills.

Understanding marketing, advertising, consumer-sales, or even a broader field like economics can be immensely useful in game development. It however, is not mandatory, for successfully monetizing your game.

There are really, far too many ways to monetize to list them all. Instead, I’ll shift focus to how I would layout some of the more popular systems.

  1. In-game premium currency. Games that utilize premium currency need to have sufficient content for currency purchase. You want enough content that players have an incentive to buy your currency, but you don’t want the game to be entirely dependent on that currency.

Setting up a premium currency economy in your game can be a little tricky. Robux → Currency exchange rates should be set appropriately so that your game economy isn’t flooded with your currency.

  1. Advantage-Changing Content. There’s a large argument to be made that selling content that affects the game’s progression, whether that means selling premium weapons or game-play boosting perks is “pay to win”. While there are no rules preventing you from selling content that allows players advantages, it’s more of a question of what your own morals are. Are you someone who cares about selling advantages? If you want to truly capitalize on every advantage, you might consider selling advantages. Just keep in mind that overwhelmingly powerful advantages can break game progression, meaning players might grow bored of your game if they run through all your content too quickly, which hurts player retention. Overpowered advantages can also ruin the experience of other players, which will also hurt your player retention.

  2. Aesthetic Content. Many game producers who want to keep paid content entirely separate from game progression sell aesthetic content instead of game advantages. This could be anything from weapon/item “skins” and randomized “loot crates” to stuff like music players or pets. This is a better way of preserving the natural progression of player progress, so that more people play the game as you intend and don’t skip ahead or shortcut the system. However, there’s an argument to be made that aesthetic content doesn’t sell quite as well as game-play advantages.

Regardless of what you decide to pursue, you want to make sure that whatever you are selling is functional and worthwhile. If users feel cheated when buying your content, you’ll lose them as customers. Your game ratings may also take a hit. They need to feel they’re getting value for their money. Be wary of inflation when dealing with premium currencies.

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I suggest making at least one robux-purchasable weapon and one axe. Adding a gamepass to enhance all the weapons and axes ability by a little bit might help. Purchasable wood, gold, and other things is another great way to help on monetization.

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