Anyone can create a game on Roblox. It starts with an idea, and then it’s brought to life through hours upon hours of brainstorming, hard work, more brainstorming, and playtesting. And then, once all is said and done, you end up with a final product that you release to the world at the mercy of those who will be playing it. Launching a game is already a massive accomplishment. So, what sort of accomplishment would it be to release four fully-fledged Roblox experiences in a single year? We checked in with the studio who did just that: Build Into Games (stylized as BIG). They released BIG Paintball, Pet Simulator 2, Giant Survival, and Build and Survive in 2019—three of which were launched within the span of a month.
“2019 was a pretty big year for us,” said developer BuildIntoGames. “We released four games, garnered hundreds of millions of play sessions, and had two games on the top five popular/earning sorts at the same time. It was a lot of work.”
You’d think that releasing four games within such a short time period would mean sacrificing quality, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Each world is crafted with care and precision, the gameplay is meticulously polished, and there’s always some element that demonstrates outside-the-box thinking from the developers. Take Build and Survive, for example. No matter what role you play, everyone has an opportunity to support the team. The sharpshooters are tasked with keeping out hordes of zombies and robots, and then the builders have to construct a fort sturdy enough to keep them out for good. This sort of inventive thinking and social play is what continues to push Roblox experiences to new heights.
Giant Survival
Although 2019 was a very prolific year for BIG, BuildIntoGames says that it was still business as usual. “I don’t really have a process for coming up with games. BIG Paintball was loosely inspired by Daxter’s Paintball, while Pet Simulator was a spur of the moment idea I conceptualized after playing with a random word generator,” he said. “It just kinda happens and you get a ‘eureka’ moment and the gears start turning. Unfortunately, though, a lot of those ideas turn out to be pretty bad and never see the light of day past the conceptual stage. We have lots of cool experimental stuff sitting on a shelf somewhere.”
Trial and error is one of those things that helps shape developers. BuildIntoGames may only be eighteen years old, but he is well past his rookie season already.
“I’ve been making games for around a decade. I made a couple of phone apps when I was 12 and moved over to Roblox when the DevEx program was announced. I got my first lucrative hit (Guest Defense) when I was 13. I’ve had about a dozen other very successful titles since then. It’s been a fun ride!”
Pet Simulator 2
With that sort of track record, it goes without saying that the “ride” won’t be stopping anytime soon. So, what exactly is on the horizon for BIG?
“I’m very excited about 2020!” he said. “Our team has been making strides and we have a lot of even bigger things cooking in the kitchen. We’re just getting started.”
After such an amazing and productive 2019, we definitely can’t wait to see what’s next. To stay up to date with everything BIG Games, be sure to follow them on Twitter and join the BIG Games group on Roblox.