The company revealed a range of upcoming changes to the platform during the annual Roblox Developers Conference on Friday, slated for implementation over the next few months and years. Roblox is introducing a project that aims to enable generative AI creation within the platform, significantly enhancing opportunities for creators tomonetize their experiences.
The company is launching a new initiative aimed at providing creators with an increased revenue share for their paid experiences on the desktop platform. The company plans to award creators 50% of the revenue from paid experiences priced at $9.99, 60% from those priced at $29.99, and 70% from experiences costing $49.99. With creators currently receiving about 25% of the revenue from their paid experiences, this change represents a significant increase in revenue sharing.
In an interview with Eltrys, Roblox’s chief product officer, Manuel Bronstein, expressed the company’s belief that this change will motivate more traditional game developers to transition their games to the platform.
The company has also revealed its partnership with Shopify, enabling creators to sell physical merchandise directly within their experiences. Later this year, Roblox plans to launch a pilot programme for this integration, working with a select group of creators, brands, and e-commerce partners.
Roblox is planning to launch a “Price Optimisation” tool, which will help creators by conducting tests to identify the best pricing for in-experience purchases. In certain instances, the tool might recommend that developers reduce the price of an item to enhance sales, ultimately benefiting both the developers and the players.
Similarly, the company plans to start testing regional pricing recommendations, allowing developers to customise their prices for local markets. 
Fuelling the creation of generative AI
Roblox has revealed its initiative to develop a 3D foundational model aimed at enhancing generative creation within its platform. Roblox plans to make the model open source and multimodal, empowering creators to generate 3D content using text, video, and prompts.
A creator might envision a world set in the Scottish Highlands, complete with castles under a stormy sky, featuring a dragon in the backdrop, all rendered in a steampunk aesthetic. “The output will encompass the complete scene creation,” Bronstein stated.
He noted that generative AI currently focuses more on images and videos than 3D creation. In Roblox, 3D objects are essential; therefore, a tree must not only function like one but also be fully visible from every angle.
Bronstein emphasised that Roblox aims not to supplant the creative process but rather to empower a broader audience to engage in game development and creation. For example, you may excel as a developer but find the artistic aspects of game creation to be a challenge. We designed the 3D foundational model to streamline the onboarding process for new users on the platform and help existing teams accelerate their game development efforts.
Additionally, receiving an output does not necessarily imply immediate implementation. Bronstein expects developers to refine and adjust the content that AI produces.
The company has announced the rollout of a new technology named “Harmony,” designed to assist developers in automatically optimising their experiences across various devices and network conditions.
Enhancing the social aspects of Roblox
Roblox currently provides a variety of social features that encourage user interaction, and the company plans to introduce more ways for users to interact.
To begin with, it introduces “Party,” a novel feature that allows a group of friends to navigate Roblox collectively in a private chat setting. Text-based chat is available to users under the age of 13. Older users have the option to utilise voice chat. In a party, users have the ability to communicate with one another regardless of the games they are currently playing. Should everyone decide to engage in the same game, they can easily send invitations to one another.
The company plans to launch forums later this year, providing users with a dedicated platform to share feedback, engage in gameplay discussions, and report any issues they may face.
Roblox plans to enhance its platform as a leading destination for music discovery by introducing new features like “What’s Playing” and “Music Charts.” These additions will allow users to easily find trending songs from emerging artists. Roblox is preparing to integrate with DistroKid, enabling artists to upload and share their music on the platform.
The features unveiled today align with Roblox’s ambitious objective of capturing 10% of the global gaming content revenue within its ecosystem. While the company has not specified a timeline for achieving this goal, Roblox is confident that the changes it is implementing will facilitate reaching this milestone.
