Roblox play-through rate: test one change at a time

Play-through rate tells you how often people who see your game choose to play it. It sits between "Roblox showed my game" and "players stayed". This guide covers what Roblox measures, how to test a thumbnail or a title one change at a time, and where to read the numbers in Creator Dashboard.

What play-through rate measures

Roblox describes play-through rate as the rate at which users play your game after seeing it in the Recommended for You sort on Home, and lists it among the most important recommendation signals. Discovery (opens in a new tab).

The acquisition dashboard has a play-through rate chart and a conversion rate: the percent of new users who played your game after viewing an impression. Acquisition (opens in a new tab).

Thumbnail tests report a qualified play-through rate: qualified plays divided by impressions from Home recommendations. Roblox describes it as the share of users who actively engage with your game for a significant amount of time. Thumbnails (opens in a new tab).

So the same idea comes in a few versions. Before you compare two numbers, check that both come from the same place and count the same kind of play.

What moves it

Play-through rate depends on what people see before they join. Roblox's advice is to use a title, description and icon that are true and unique to your game, and to add images and videos to your game's detail page. Acquisition (opens in a new tab).

It also moves for reasons that have nothing to do with your page:

• A temporary drop in play-through rate is normal when your impressions increase, especially early in discovery. Discovery (opens in a new tab)
• Players from ads, Home recommendations and other sources behave differently, so play-through rate, playtime and retention can differ by source. Discovery (opens in a new tab)
• The number of people visiting Home changes too: Roblox describes a weekly pattern that usually peaks on Saturday, plus summer and holiday patterns. Discovery (opens in a new tab)

Test a thumbnail with thumbnail personalization

For Home page thumbnails, Roblox runs the comparison for you. Thumbnail personalization starts when 2 or more thumbnails are active. It shows each thumbnail to a random set of users, then gives more impressions to the thumbnail that wins for each group while still giving the others a little traffic. Thumbnails (opens in a new tab).

• Set it up in the Home Page tab with Edit active thumbnails, and activate 2 to 5 thumbnails. Thumbnails (opens in a new tab)
• After a few hours, the Thumbnail Performance table shows impressions, qualified plays, average playtime and qualified play-through rate for each thumbnail. Thumbnails (opens in a new tab)
• Roblox recommends keeping several thumbnails active instead of picking one winner, testing new thumbnails with a major update, then leaving them until your next update. Thumbnails (opens in a new tab)
• Use a 16:9 image, ideally 1920×1080, and keep important text away from the bottom, where details like the player count can cover it. Thumbnails (opens in a new tab)

Test a title or icon one change at a time

Some changes reach everyone at once. Your icon is one example: Roblox displays one icon per locale. Icons (opens in a new tab). For a change like that, you can only compare the days before it with the days after it, so keep the test simple:

1. Change one thing. If the icon and the title change on the same day, you can't tell which one moved the number.
2. Write down the date. Roblox analytics days are UTC days, from UTC midnight to UTC midnight. Analytics API (opens in a new tab)
3. Compare equal windows of complete days, for example 7 days before and 7 days after, so each side has every weekday once.
4. Keep other changes out of the window. Ads, events and updates change who sees your game, and play-through rate differs by source. Discovery (opens in a new tab)
5. Check what happens after the click. If more people join but fewer come back the next day, the new page may promise something the game doesn't deliver. Roblox asks for thumbnails that show what players should expect and videos that show real gameplay. Thumbnails (opens in a new tab)

For changes inside your game, Roblox has Experiments: real A/B tests on config values that run between 14 and 60 days. Experiments (opens in a new tab).

A before-and-after comparison is a clue, not proof. The before and after calculator shows whether a change is bigger than the normal day-to-day spread.

Read it in Creator Dashboard

1. Open Creator Dashboard, select your game, then Analytics > Acquisition. This page has the play-through rate chart, new and returning users by source and a new users funnel. Acquisition (opens in a new tab)
2. On the same page, the Home Recommendations tab shows Home impressions and plays and the recommendation signals, play-through rate among them. Discovery (opens in a new tab)
3. For thumbnails, use the Thumbnail Performance table in the Home Page tab of your thumbnail settings, and the qualified play-through rate by thumbnail graph. Thumbnails (opens in a new tab)
4. Filters by source, platform, country and more apply to the charts, so you can look at one source at a time. Analytics dashboard (opens in a new tab)

Where LaunchBlip fits

LaunchBlip's digest shows qualified play-through from the metrics you authorize, as an acquisition measure, not purchase conversion. It compares the latest complete day with your previous 7-day average, next to daily players and retention. Days Roblox hasn't finished publishing stay out of the comparison. For the thumbnail test itself, use Roblox's Thumbnail Performance table. Thumbnails (opens in a new tab)