We have a vision of a Games page that’s populated with incredible games to play and places to explore. With content like Apocalypse Rising and ROBLOXity and Battlefield and Sword Fighting Tournament re-appearing week after week, we’re partway there. However, among such great stuff, you might see games that don’t live up to their own hype. We’re working on solving that problem; one step we’re taking is experimenting with a new sort for the Games page, known as the Top Earning sort.

This type of sort might ring a bell if you’re a mobile app fiend. The iTunes App Store, for example, shows top 10 lists for not just highly downloaded apps, but apps that are grossing a lot of money via sales and in-app purchases. While there may be exceptions, top-grossing apps are often quality apps. People don’t spend significant money on things that are “bad,” especially not over a sustained period of time. ROBLOXians, by the same token, are smart enough not to spend their time or Robux on games that fail to deliver a good experience.

We’ve kicked off an experiment to test this theory. If you look at the Games page, you now have the option – it’s not shown by default at this time – of viewing games using the Top Grossing sort. Simply visit the Games page, then click “Top Earning” in the left-hand menu where you see “Relevance,” “Popular,” and so on. Here’s how it looks today, as compared to the standard Relevance sort.

Left: Relevance sort. Right: Top Earning sort. Use left and right arrows to compare.

Right now, the Top Earning sort factors in Game Pass sales and affiliate gear sales (both in-game and on-site) over a rolling, seven-day period. We designed the algorithm to be flexible to future features that allow builders and developers to profit from their creations, so it will adapt with the times.

We believe this sort will enhance player discovery of great content and give builders and game developers another avenue to reach the top of the Games page. As opposed to sheer popularity, you can have success by creating a game that does a reasonable job of selling players on valuable goods. Popularity is still a factor – someone needs to be there to buy stuff – but it’s not the end-all be-all of making it big on ROBLOX. Longer term, the sort could encourage game developers to constantly expand their gameplay to stay on the top, which is good for everyone.

How can you make your game or place work for you? To start, consider selling Game Passes, adding gear to your game, and leveraging our recent in-game purchasing API.

This small feature sets the stage for significant Games page development in the coming months. We’re excited about what’s on the horizon, and the prospect of drastically improving your ability to search and discover the best ROBLOX’s community of builders has to offer.