Our Developer Exchange program has been available for two months now, and we’ve been keeping a close eye on the numbers to determine not only how developers are leveraging the new system, but which direction this should go in the future. As with any new feature, we’ve also been interacting with as many participants as possible–their stories continue to inspire us to find ways to reward the prolific and hard-working game developers who populate ROBLOX with fresh and exciting content every day.

Let’s have a look at some numbers, shall we?

• Total amount of cash earned since DevEx debut: $29,550

Let’s see how we arrived at that number:

• Total amount of cash earned in October: $16,500
• Number of individuals who used DevEx in October: 63
• Average amount of cash earned per individual in October: $262.70
• Total amount of cash earned in November: $13,050
• Number of individuals who used DevEx in November: 55
• Average amount of cash earned per individual in November: $237.27

We’ve begun internal discussions about the Developer Exchange. Should we raise the maximum amount our developers can earn? Would doing so change the quality of the games on ROBLOX? For better or worse? These are just some of the many questions we’ve been asking one another, though the bottom line is this: we want to reward those who treat ROBLOX game development as a serious, worthwhile endeavor rather than just a hobby. Speaking to that effect, we caught up with a couple more developers who have leveraged DevEx to supplement their real life expenses. Jojomen56, creator of ROBLOX Survivor (and the soon-to-come 2.0) spends the money he earns in an instant–as a young college student, there are many bills to be paid.

“To be honest, the money is gone each and every month,” he tells me. “It helps me pay for my car and my college fees. What’s awesome is that when I receive DevEx money, I ask my boss for less hours, meaning I can spend more time developing ROBLOX games.”

ROBLOX Survivor has been visited nearly two million times, and has earned Jojomen56 millions of ROBUX through clever implementations of Game Passes and Paid Access.

“I basically try to make beneficial Game Passes that aren’t necessarily required to enjoy my game, but make a big difference in how my game is played. I’m also working on ROBLOX Survivor 2.0, and I’ve made the beta Paid Access,” he tells me. “That way I can get feedback and earn some ROBUX. I grant privileges to those who purchase Paid Access when the game actually comes out.”

The second developer we talked to has a name you may not recognize, though we definitely encourage you to remedy that by checking out The Chair by Vert6. The puzzler has been played over 100,000 times, and Vert6 was able to earn over a million ROBUX selling VIP shirts that allow players to obtain the rare items sprinkled throughout the labyrinth.

I always manage to screw up the cool parts.

“I got the idea to create two rooms with fun gear you can use, but only if you have the ‘The Chair’ t-shirt. After setting some reasonable prices, hundreds of people began buying the shirts so they could have access to all the gadgets in the map,” he explains.

Vert6 is an interesting case for the DevEx books; he shows there are indeed ways to make serious money without creating an uber-popular title with millions of plays. If you’ve got a solid title it’s important to develop monetization strategies that give players incentive to purchase supplemental items or gear. As for where the money is going?

“I’ve made $750 so far, and I put the majority of that cash towards my tuition. I’m going to a two-year technical college to become a web-based computer programmer,” he tells me. “I’m using the rest of the money to buy my girlfriend a nice Christmas present.”

Stay classy, Vert6. Stay classy.