Since the ever-growing multiplayer platform made its remarkable debut in 2006,Robloxcontinues to be a cultural and gaming juggernaut for PC and mobile gamers alike. One of the reasons why over 22 million players are jumping onRobloxdaily to dive into over20 million-plus user-developed “experiences"is because of how the global platform is structured to bring people together through play, making the game ideal for friend groups or solo adventures. However, this standard structure of level selection may soon be thoroughly revitalized, as the Roblox Corporation files a patent that revises how players discover games.
For the uninitiated,Robloxis an online game builder and creator platformwhere “amateur” game developers assemble the majority of the content. These developers can then publish their creations to the community using simple rollout tools. Once released, this content can then be experienced by gamers worldwide, often online together, through a PC, console, phone, or tablet application. In short, the company models itself as a child-friendly space where young game developers can make money selling their work while players can take part in said creations, mostly, free of charge.
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Now, howRobloxplayers experience user-created gameshas hardly been altered over the years, with the usual rollout being a simple ranking of what’s “Popular,” “Recommended,” or “Top-Rated” at the current moment when the player launchesRoblox. However, a recent patent secured by The Roblox Corporation (and documented for public interests on Patentscope) aims to determine then rank a game’s quality based on how long people play it for.
While this appears to be a simple refinement to the standard search categories already inRoblox, ranking games based on playtime may have somewhat thoroughgoing consequences. After all,Robloxallows developers to monetize their creations and make money through the in-game acquisition of any “Robux” spent by players within said creations withRobux beingRoblox’slucrative virtual currency. Therefore, the more players a game has, the higher the odds are one will virtually spend Robux on the experience and profit the developers in reality.
With this in mind, most developers will certainly structure a creation’s gameplay loop and objectives to be more grind-focused because the harder it is to beat, the longer a player will persist and build up playtime. This switch in user content distribution onRobloxto emphasize longer content (to build up playtime) rather than short and sweet experiences is nothing new within the entertainment industry. Leading sites such as YouTube introduced similar ranking models, which led to many creators purposely stretching out their videos with needless filler to appease the algorithm.
In summary, although ranking games based on how long they are played for may have positive effects forRoblox, one cannot ignore how easy it is to manipulate such an algorithm for financial gain instead of artistic expression. On that account, it’ll be interesting to see howthe Roblox Corporationwill incorporate such a feature whilst keeping both creators and the player base satisfied.
Robloxis available now on PC, Xbox One, and mobile devices.
