On the annual Roblox Builders Convention, the corporate introduced on Friday a collection of modifications coming to the platform within the subsequent few months and years. Most notably, Roblox is including extra methods for creators to earn cash by way of their experiences, and the corporate is unveiling a undertaking that can energy generative AI creation on the platform.
The corporate is introducing a brand new program that can give creators the next share of income for his or her paid experiences on the desktop. Creators will now obtain 50% of the income for paid experiences that value $9.99, 60% for experiences that value $29.99 and 70% for experiences that value $49.99. The change marks a major enhance in income sharing, as creators at present earn about 25% of the income for his or her paid experiences.
Roblox chief product officer Manuel Bronstein instructed TechCrunch in an interview that the corporate believes this transformation will encourage extra conventional sport builders to deliver their video games to the platform.
The corporate additionally introduced that it’s partnering with Shopify to permit creators to promote bodily merchandise immediately inside their experiences. Roblox plans to pilot this integration later this 12 months with choose creators, manufacturers and e-commerce companions.
To additional help creators, Roblox goes to roll out a “Price Optimization” instrument that can run assessments to assist builders establish the perfect value for in-experience purchases. In some instances, the instrument might counsel that builders decrease the value of an merchandise to get extra gross sales, benefiting each the developer and gamers.
In the identical vein, the corporate goes to begin experimenting with regional pricing suggestions to permit builders to tailor their costs to native markets.
Powering generative AI creation
When it comes to AI, Roblox introduced that it’s engaged on a 3D foundational mannequin that can energy generative creation on its platform. The mannequin will probably be open supply and multimodal and permit creators to generate 3D content material utilizing textual content, video and prompts.
“A creator could say I want to create a world that is in the Scottish Highlands with castles and a stormy day, with a dragon background, and I want all of this in a steampunk steam style. And then the output will be the full scene creation,” Bronstein stated.
He famous that generative AI is at present centered on photos and movies, not 3D creation. However, in Roblox, you want 3D objects, so for those who see a tree, it must behave like a tree and in addition be seen from all sides.
Bronstein famous that Roblox isn’t attempting to switch the artistic course of however as a substitute focuses on enabling extra individuals to develop and create video games. As an example, it’s possible you’ll be an amazing developer however battle with the creative necessities for sport creation. The 3D foundational mannequin goals to make it simpler for anyone to get began on the platform, whereas additionally serving to present groups velocity up the method of sport growth.
Plus, simply since you get an output, doesn’t imply that you’ll implement it straight away. Builders will probably fine-tune and modify the AI-generated content material, Bronstein stated.
As well as, Roblox revealed that it’s rolling out a brand new expertise known as “Harmony” that can assist builders robotically optimize their experiences for various gadgets and community circumstances.
Making Roblox extra social
Whereas Roblox already has social options that permit customers to work together with one another, the corporate is introducing new methods for customers to take action.
For starters, it’s including “Party,” which is a brand new manner for a bunch of associates to maneuver round Roblox collectively as a bunch in a personal chat. If a person is beneath the age of 13, they’ll chat through textual content. If a person is older, they’ll use voice chat. Customers in a Get together can chat with one another even when they’re taking part in completely different video games, and if all of them need to play the identical sport, they’ll ship invitations to one another.
The corporate can be introducing boards later this 12 months to offer customers a devoted house to share suggestions, focus on gameplay and report any points they encounter.
To make its platform a vacation spot for individuals to find new music, Roblox will roll out a brand new “What’s Playing” and “Music Charts” function the place individuals will be capable of discover trending songs from breakout artists. Roblox can be planning an integration with music distribution service DistroKid to offer artists a solution to add and share their music on the platform.
The entire options introduced right this moment are a part of Roblox’s formidable purpose of getting 10% of all gaming content material income worldwide move by way of its ecosystem. Though the corporate didn’t present a timeline for when it goals to succeed in this purpose, Roblox believes the modifications it’s introducing will assist it obtain the milestone.