[metaversemarcom] Roblox Analytics Platform Gamebeast Raises $3.7M in Funding

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of meeting Zander Brumbaugh at a Roblox mixer during the Game Developers Conference (GDC). I learned that he had founded a Roblox analytics startup that had received initial funding from VC fund a16z, which is super impressive.

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Last week, I was delighted to see that Zander's company Gamebeast just raised $3.7M in funding to expand their product and team. He also had this great write up from TechCrunch, where I learned Zander is only 22 years old. Super impressive.

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Anyone who reads my articles won't be surprised to learn that I love data. So it's great to see Roblox data tools getting funding. I started my corporate career analyzing YouTube video data, and now I find myself analyzing Roblox Analytics (and GameAnalytics) data on a regular basis. Reviewing analytics and developing actionable insights can be a huge difference maker in a video or game's success.

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Large VC firms investing in a platform aimed at serving UGC game developers also shows that professional investors believe this sector is growing. That's great validation for the UGC gaming industry as a whole.

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In order to learn more about Gamebeast, its Roblox analytics tool and target customers, I reached out to Zander to learn more about what he's building. Here's my interview with him.

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Stephen: What problems does your Roblox analytics product look to help solve?

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Zander: At the highest level, Gamebeast is a solution that allows developers to make data-informed decisions to optimize the engagement, monetization, and other key performance metrics for their experiences.

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This is done by providing features like live analytics, remote configurations, A/B testing, audience segmentation, automated analysis, and more, which allows developers to see real-time impacts of their changes and understand how to optimize the performance of their game to see strong organic game and community growth.

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Stephen: What makes your Roblox product different from existing analytics solutions?

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Zander: Gamebeast is the first solution tailored to Roblox developers.

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What does this mean in practice? It’s super easy to integrate, offers an API and structure that Roblox developers expect, and offers a pricing model that scales to Roblox experiences.

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All existing analytics solutions were made with traditional and/or mobile gaming in mind, meaning that not only do they often not fit well into UGC ecosystems, but they’re also not leveraging tons of valuable information and dynamics that developers can use to optimize their games - especially in the context of the discovery algorithm, which is so critical for organic growth.

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Stephen: Who is your Roblox analytics product aimed at serving? Is it more for teams with well established, successful games, or more for those developers looking to break through?

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Zander: Our product is designed for developers of all sizes.

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For major studios and experienced teams, we equip them with tools that have long been standard in traditional and mobile gaming, while leveraging unique insights from the UGC space easily across their entire portfolio of games.

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For smaller teams and those looking to  achieve their first breakthrough successes, we’re giving them these tools and supporting them with automated analysis features. These make it easier for them to recognize the impact of their changes across engagement metrics, audience sentiment, and insights into comparable games, making it as if they have a whole data team giving them actionable insights. This democratizes discovery and success.

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Stephen: What are mistakes you see Roblox developers making when it comes to analytics and testing?

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Zander: Many Roblox developers are currently realizing the importance of analytics and data in making decisions to maximize the success of their experiences.

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Almost all are shooting in the dark when trying to optimize their games for the algorithm and understand the impacts their updates have on stats or how they can best cater to their audiences.

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For many developers, this has long been the way of things and some have developed great intuitions for making increasingly better iterations on their game. For them, and certainly many other developers, they simply lack the tooling and automated insights to do otherwise.

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Giving them tools with which to execute on their own expertise, removing the guesswork, and simplifying the tedious process of extrapolating from sparse, high-level analytics will be a distinct advantage that gives developers a serious competitive edge and more time to focus on making incredible content.

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Stephen: Based on data you've seen, what advice do you have for Roblox developers looking to make a successful game?

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Zander: This one requires a two-part answer: from a mechanics perspective, absolutely everything on Roblox is driven by social interaction. Games that focus on social interaction have long lifetimes as the content is created mostly by the players themselves rather than constant content updates by the developers. This also makes room for entertaining, organic moments that often grow into viral content, helping increase external growth for your game as well.

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Part two of my answer: make what you think is an awesome game. Too often developers, especially ones trying to make their first hit, are chasing the current trend over making something they would actually enjoy.

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This often leads to greater disappointment and burnout if they don’t reach the outcome they were looking for. If there’s something you think would be a fun idea, there certainly exists an audience for it on Roblox.

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As full as Roblox is with its idiosyncrasies and unique audience expectations, if you’ve spent enough time as a player on the platform, you already know what’s kept you here and inspired you to make games of your very own. Keep building.