'Skip College, Make Games: How I Became Roblox’s Top Developer'

When Osian Taubman-Edwards stumbled upon a Roblox advertisement on YouTube, it instantly piqued his curiosity.

More than ten years later, the 32-year-old has become Roblox's leading developer, accumulating over 11 billion visits to their profile and attracting an additional five million new players each month who engage with their games.

Osian, hailing from Mold, Flintshire, has developed more than 20 games for the platform and holds a position within the top 250 creators out of 300,000.

He remarked, 'This experience has unveiled a myriad of opportunities for me and my acclaim continues to grow daily.'

In 2014, Osian began developing games on the platform Roblox while he was pursuing studies in music at college.

He mentioned, 'I've always possessed an inventive mindset and sought after pursuits capable of testing my intellect.'

I harbored a profound love for music along with an enormous enthusiasm for video games.

After realizing he had the ability to develop and design his own games, Osian stated it felt like "an instant fit for me," even though his parents encouraged him to pursue his education further.

As I departed to bid them farewell, they would observe from the window to spot my bus.

I would subsequently disembark at the second stop and await my parent’s departure.

“I proceeded to climb through the back window at home and began dedicating myself entirely to playing Roblox, totally neglecting my studies,” he explained.

Initially, one of Osian's most successful games was Castle Battles in the Sky, which gained significant popularity after becoming a hit on Roblox.

"He mentioned that back then, a successful game would typically have between 50 to 100 players. When I reached 105 players, I was amazed," he stated.

As of now, the most visited game on Osian's profile is Barry's Prison Run, clocking in at an impressive 3.1 billion views.

Roblox boasts more than 80 million active daily users and is predominantly popular among children aged eight to 12 years old in the United Kingdom.

Users can utilize this platform to develop and distribute their own games to others.

Throughout the years, there have been assertions about certain children encountering inappropriate or damaging material via its games, along with numerous accusations of bullying and predatory behavior.

But its co-founder and CEO Dave Baszucki has maintained that the firm remains watchful. in protecting its users.

Mr. Taubman-Edwards, who has been developing games on the platform since his youth, concurs and stated that the system filters out undesirable material.

I've come across parents' safety worries, yet Roblox has become quite stringent regarding this matter. Additionally, they have implemented measures for addressing issues between players.

“If somebody sends malicious messages, Roblox entirely removes them and directs it to a system where they have the option to permanently block that user. It’s quite effective,” he said to Radio Cymru.

He mentioned that parents can impose age limits to safeguard their children from unsuitable content.

"If parents don’t want their children exposed to inappropriate content, they can set the ‘parental control’ feature on the phone to prevent them from accessing material outside their appropriate age range," he explained.

What does it take to create a successful game on Roblox?

Although Osian doesn't exert any pressure on himself, he mentioned that he enjoys making games he would personally like to play.

"Honestly, I connect well with my inner child and design games that I would have enjoyed when I was young," he stated.

As a child, I enjoyed many various games, which inspired me. I have a deep passion for this, and when you truly love something, it tends to succeed.

Although Osian has collaborated with major players like Warner Bros and Universal Studios, he aspires to launch his own game development company.

“I never imagined that succeeding while hiding beneath my staircase, ensuring my parents believed I was at college, would become my reality,” he remarked.

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