Matt and Ben Horton's father, Mark, was initially concerned that they were trafficking drugs. However, their newfound wealth was from a completely natural adolescent addiction: video games. However, the twins were not satisfied with just playing them, and they also wanted to create video games, a goal that came to fruition through the online gaming platform Roblox.
Like millions of other young boys, the twins began gaming as children, with Lego on the PlayStation 2 and basic Flash games. Now, at 20, they are making more than £100,000 a year as Roblox creators. They helped their parents, Mark and Caroline, pay off the mortgage on their Norfolk family home. They also helped their sister Rebecca, 21, studying travel and tourism, and Edward, 18, studying physiotherapy.
It all began as a hobby during a Christmas break when they came across Roblox, an online gaming platform that teaches kids how to create games from the ground up. "It had given us access to hundreds of people's fascinating creations," Matt had stated. Ben then continued, "We only played them at first, but during the 2013 Christmas holidays, we began experimenting with making our own."
They created Boat Ride, a free-to-play game in which players explore Disney-style world attractions. They began to add extras for £5 for each ability — to ride around their world in a jet pack, for example.
It was a huge step forward. "When I showed my father the £600, he assumed it was from a drug trafficking because it was so big. "He was taken aback," Matt reminisced. Ben then continued that they only have about £1 a week of pocket money and that the first £5 was already a lot for them. So much so that they brought about 5,000 marshmallows.
Matt began learning video development on his own to create trailers for the twins' growing list of games. At the same time, Ben continued his studies in programming and user interfaces. They dropped out of the sixth form at the age of 16 to focus on their flourishing careers.
A few months later, Matt created the adventure gaming film The Last Guest, and Ben made Guest World, a video game based on it.
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Today, the twins have collaborated on a total of 20 Roblox games. It has accrued 100 million gaming visits in conjunction with Guest World and Roleplay World, a new belter.
"We didn't have any formal training," says Matt. He said that they had just learned quickly by themselves, repeating the process until they got better.
Matt acknowledged that it's still hard for them to imagine that something they started for fun has turned into a fortune. He had also said that they did it all because they enjoy doing it, and he is very fortunate to be doing what he loves.
Their games are proven hits, and it is apparent that hard work and thinking in unison have been the keys to their success.
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