Student, 19, paying university education through video game created in his room : The Standard

• Mirror 26th Jan 2020 10:49:11 GMT +0300

A student has revealed how he is paying his way through university thanks to a video game he created in his bedroom. Josh Wood is just 19-years-old, but is the brains behind Game Dev Life - one of the most successful games on Roblox. His game launched in 2017, and has already been played more than 1.1 million times. Mr Wood said: “I started using Roblox as a player seven years ago when I was 13, after my friend told me about a website he’d found that let you ‘build anything you want.’ “For about a year, I mainly played games that other people had built until I realised that through the Roblox platform I could quite easily learn the programming language, Lua, and start developing my own. “At the time I had done a little bit of coding - but nothing formal - and I never thought I'd be able to make a whole game from scratch. “However, through using the Roblox wiki, learning from other open-sourced pieces of code, and roping in some help from friends, I managed to put together my first game called Escape.

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“After my first game launched, I continued working on my coding skills and began collaborating with other developers on projects. Eventually, in 2017 I launched Game Dev Life, my most successful game to date which has so far had more than 1.1 million play sessions.” The game generates money for Mr Wood in several different ways. He explained: “Firstly, players can purchase in-game products, such as extra in-game currency or a VIP ‘gamepass’ which gives them extra cosmetics and perks, and I receive a share of the earnings from this. “Outside of the game itself, I have also signed a licensing deal with Roblox to produce a physical toy set of my game, which I also get a cut of the profits from.” While Mr Wood didn’t reveal exactly how much money he’s made from the game, he hinted that it’s a pretty hefty sum. He said: “Through my game I have earned enough to set up and fund my own business when I was 17, and I am now paying for my university tuition.” If you’re considering creating your own game, Mr Wood advises you start out small. He said: “Make a basic prototype of your game idea and test it out with a few friends. Keep it simple and don’t spend ages polishing and adding new features right at the beginning - just get it out there and listen to player feedback before making any improvements or updates. “Another piece of advice I’d give is to work with other developers as much as you can. Finding other developers, ideally with different skills, to collaborate on your games - or even just chatting with them on a daily basis - can be so useful for sharing advice and ideas and getting honest feedback. “It also helps you stay accountable and can be really motivating to get more work done!”

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Game Dev LifeRoblox