Can a Solo Developer Succeed on Roblox?

The short answer: yes. And the data isn't even close. Roblox is the only major game platform where solo developers and small teams routinely build experiences that reach millions of players and generate real revenue — with zero upfront capital.

Here are the numbers.

The Most-Visited Game on Roblox Was Built by One Person

Brookhaven RP has over 58 billion visits — the most of any experience on the platform. It was created by a single developer, Wolfpaq, with minimal assistance. In February 2025, it was acquired by Voldex.

This isn't an anomaly. Look at the platform's biggest games and their original team sizes:

  • Brookhaven RP — 58.59 billion visits. 1 developer.
  • Blox Fruits — 45.62 billion visits. 2 core developers (mygame43 and rip_indra), grew to ~9.
  • Jailbreak — billions of visits, 70,000 concurrent players on day one. 2 people (asimo3089 and badcc).
  • Adopt Me! — 38.32 billion visits. Started as a small team, grew into Uplift Games (60+ employees).

The pattern repeats: small team builds it, audience finds it, revenue scales, team grows if and when the developer decides to grow. Not before.

74% of Roblox Developers Work Alone

This is the number that should reframe the entire conversation. According to Roblox's Q3 2025 data, 74% of developers on the platform are independent — working solo, not as part of a studio or team. And 78% of surveyed U.S. creators identified as individual developers.

55% of top-performing games in 2025 were built by solo developers or teams of 5 or fewer. The platform doesn't just allow small teams to participate — it's structurally designed for them to win.

Another stat worth noting: 33% of creators had never taken a formal computer science, programming, or game design class. The barrier to entry is the lowest of any game platform in existence.

The Money Is Real

Roblox paid developers over $1 billion in 2025 — the first time the platform crossed that threshold in a single calendar year. For context, that's up from $741 million in 2023 and $624 million in 2022. The growth curve is accelerating:

  • Q1 2025: $281.6 million paid to creators
  • Q3 2025: $427.9 million — an 85% increase year-over-year
  • Full year 2025: Over $1 billion total

Where that money goes:

  • Top 10 creators: Average $33.9 million annually (up 450% since 2019)
  • Top 100 creators: Average $6-7 million per year
  • Top 500 creators: Over $200,000 each
  • Top 1,000 creators: Average $820,000-$980,000 annually
  • Over 100 developers earned more than $1 million in Q1 2025 alone

Successful solo creators routinely earn $20,000-$30,000 per month from individual games. And 47% of developers surveyed say Roblox is their primary income source.

$0 to Start. $0 to Scale.

The economics that make this possible are structural, not accidental:

  • Roblox Studio: Free. No engine license, no subscription, no per-seat fees.
  • Server hosting: Free. Roblox runs all infrastructure. Even with 100,000 concurrent players, you pay nothing.
  • Cross-platform deployment: Free. One codebase runs on PC, mobile, Xbox, PlayStation, and Meta Quest. No porting costs.
  • User acquisition: Free. 150M+ daily active users are already on the platform. Your game is discoverable from day one.
  • Publishing: One keystroke. No app store review, no certification process, no 6-week submission cycle.

Compare that to standalone indie development:

  • A minimum viable 2D indie game costs ~$10,000+ before anyone plays it
  • A polished indie title runs $500K-$2M+
  • Then add server hosting ($hundreds to $thousands/month), marketing (the real killer), QA, platform porting, and store fees

On Roblox, the only cost is your time.

The Revenue Share Trade-Off

The common objection: "But Roblox only gives developers ~29 cents per dollar." That's true. Here's why it's misleading.

Where each dollar spent by a player goes on Roblox:

  • ~29 cents to the developer
  • ~23 cents to app store fees (Apple, Google)
  • ~48 cents to Roblox (servers, infrastructure, R&D, payment processing, moderation, trust & safety)

Compare that to Steam's 70/30 split, which sounds better — until you account for everything Steam doesn't do for you:

  • Server hosting: you pay
  • Cross-platform: you build and maintain each port
  • User acquisition: you pay, and it's expensive
  • Moderation and safety: you build it
  • Multiplayer infrastructure: you build it

The median indie game on Steam earns roughly $1,200 in lifetime revenue. 80% of indie games earn less than $5,000 — ever. Only 0.5% were financially viable in 2024. The top 10% of indie games capture 89% of all indie revenue on the platform.

On Steam, you keep a bigger slice — of a much smaller pie that you spent far more to bake.

The Audience Is Already There

This is the single biggest structural advantage and it's easy to underestimate.

  • 150M+ daily active users (Q2 2025: 111.8 million DAU, growing 41% YoY)
  • 381.8 million monthly active users globally
  • 88.7 billion hours of engagement in 2025
  • 45 million concurrent users on a single Saturday morning in August 2025

On any other platform, reaching even 1% of this audience would require a marketing budget most solo developers can't afford. On Roblox, players discover games through the platform's recommendation system, social connections, and in-app browsing. Your game competes on its merits — not on your ad spend.

The platform also handles virality. Friends see what friends are playing. Party systems, in-platform sharing, and social features drive organic discovery. One player enjoying your game recruits others without you doing anything.

Growing Up, Not Just Growing

The demographic shift is worth highlighting because it directly affects monetization:

  • 44% of Roblox users are now over 17
  • 17-24 age group: 21-25% of the player base and the fastest-growing segment
  • 25+ age group: 19% of the player base
  • The 18+ cohort is growing at over 50% year-over-year
  • 18+ users monetize 40% higher than younger cohorts

The players aging up on Roblox have disposable income and spending habits that younger players don't. Roblox is actively investing in genres that appeal to older demographics — shooters, RPGs, sports, racing — and the developer tools are maturing to match. The platform in 2026 is not the platform from 2018.

Platform Economics Compared

A direct comparison for an indie or solo developer choosing where to build:

  • Roblox — ~29% revenue share. $0 for hosting, distribution, cross-platform, user acquisition. 150M+ DAU built-in audience. Publish in seconds.
  • Steam — 70% revenue share ($0-10M tier). Developer pays for hosting, marketing, porting. Median indie game earns $1,200 lifetime. 70,000+ competing titles.
  • Epic Games Store — 88% revenue share (100% on first $1M as of June 2025). Best raw split, but smallest audience. Limited discoverability.
  • Apple App Store / Google Play — 70% share (85% under $1M). Mobile UA costs have made organic growth nearly impossible. You're competing with studios spending $10M+/month on ads.

For a solo developer or small team with limited capital, the question isn't "which platform pays the highest percentage?" It's "which platform gives me the highest probability of reaching players and earning revenue with the resources I have?" That answer is Roblox, and it's not close.

What This Means for AlphaRabbit

We're a solo-founded studio. One person, AI-augmented tooling, and a reusable framework. The Roblox platform is the reason this model works:

  • No infrastructure costs eating into margins
  • No marketing budget burning runway
  • A built-in audience of 150M+ players discovering games organically
  • A portfolio model where each game increases the value of the next
  • Revenue from launch — not after a 2-year dev cycle and a $500K marketing push

The data is clear: solo developers and small teams don't just survive on Roblox. They built the biggest games on the platform. The economics aren't a compromise — they're the competitive advantage.