The Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) 2024 showcased numerous significant announcements shaping the future of the platform. From new Communities and Party features to enhancements for creators developing Battle Royale games, here’s a summary of what was introduced.
This year’s RDC emphasized technological advancements with the unveiling of features such as a Party system, an updated economy, a new Creator Affiliate program, and more.
Commencing on September 7, Builderman David Baszucki reflected on the past year and outlined the platform’s future to creators, developers, and the player community during the 2024 edition.
RDC 2024: Major Announcements
Roblox Groups Rebranded as Communities
Introducing Roblox Communities—a place to connect with others. And later this year, we’ll be rolling out Forums, a dedicated space to share feedback and discuss your favorite experiences. #RDC24 pic.twitter.com/5hX00gKz6P
— Roblox (@Roblox) September 6, 2024
Builderman announced that Roblox Groups will transition to Roblox Communities. This change will be accompanied by tools such as Forums, where users can provide feedback, discuss gameplay, and report issues.
Similar to Reddit, this feature will facilitate user communication and content sharing. Popular games with large communities, like Blox Fruits, are set to pilot this new tool.
Forums will incorporate moderation features, enabling users to delete unwanted posts, ban disruptive individuals, and implement proactive tools to minimize spam.
Roblox Party Feature Enhances Social Play
It’s never been easier to connect and play with friends on Roblox. With Party, you’ll be able to be together and have fun like never before. #RDC24 pic.twitter.com/1WWOwR4ram
— Roblox (@Roblox) September 6, 2024
The upcoming Roblox Party feature will mirror social systems seen in games like Fortnite, allowing users to invite friends to a party where they can chat and play together on shared matchmaking servers.
This feature will provide text chat for users nine and older, while voice chat will be accessible to those 13 and older who verify their accounts. Developers using the API will have the ability to create custom experiences for party sessions to enhance engagement.
For instance, creators can place all party members on the same team, teleport them to a common location, and offer collective merchandise for the party.
Return of Public Songs and DistroKid Integration
With What’s Playing and Music Charts, Creators can find popular and trending songs from breakout artists across the Roblox community, and artists will get an opportunity to build fandom and connect with Roblox’s global audience. #Roblox #RDC24 pic.twitter.com/72oztqZDZt
— Bloxy News (@Bloxy_News) September 6, 2024
Roblox announced the return of public songs alongside a feature named What’s Playing. Users will have the ability to see what they’re listening to and can “like”their favorite songs. Additionally, Music Charts will be developed based on these likes, further promoting top artists and musicians within the Roblox ecosystem.
The integration with DistroKid will facilitate music distribution for artists on Roblox, allowing creators to easily find and incorporate a variety of audio content into their experiences via the Creator Store.
Introduction of New Creator Affiliate Program
With the new Creator Affiliate Program, Creators can invite new users to the platform and earn up to 50% of purchases made with Robux from each new user acquired in the first 6 months. #Roblox #RDC24 pic.twitter.com/tRllOpbnuu
— Bloxy News (@Bloxy_News) September 6, 2024
The new Creator Affiliate Program enables eligible creators, influencers, and studios to earn a share of the platform’s revenue from new users they refer to Roblox.
Through sharing links promoting experiences, creators can earn up to 50% of Robux spent by new users who sign up through their links within the first six months. This pilot program began accepting applications on September 6, with plans to expand to all creators in the first half of next year.
Shopify E-commerce Integration
this is not a glitchthe future of shopping is coming to @Roblox, powered by the world’s best-converting checkout https://t.co/mWpOe8R3nI
— Shopify (@Shopify) September 6, 2024
Starting early next year, Roblox will enhance creator capabilities by allowing them to sell physical merchandise directly from their experiences using the e-commerce platform Shopify.
This feature will initially be available to US users aged 13 and older.
100-Player Battle Royale Experiences on Low-End Devices
The vision: Run a 100-player sports event or battle royale experience on devices as low as 2GB, including a native architecture for competitive gaming. #Roblox #RDC24 pic.twitter.com/gECGBqwXlS
— Bloxy News (@Bloxy_News) September 6, 2024
Builderman also shared plans to enable developers to host high-performance 100-player sports or battle royale experiences on devices with just 2 GB of RAM, ensuring quality performance globally.
To achieve this, Roblox introduced new technology called Harmony, which optimizes engine streaming on both client and server sides, including balancing CPU, GPU, RAM, and bandwidth to provide the best experience for all users.
Miscellaneous Announcements
- Builderman reviewed the 5-year predictions from last year, expressing concerns about Dating Experiences and family communications on Roblox.
- Roblox plans to add a feature allowing developers to price paid access experiences in real currency, with an increased revenue share of up to 70% for those experiences based on a sliding scale across price points.
- Roblox games will incorporate ads that players can unlock for rewards or in-game items.
- A new highlights feature will be introduced to enable players to record live gameplay clips.
- A 3D Foundational Model was announced, utilizing multimodal inputs to create 3D objects and scenes usable on Roblox and beyond. This model will accept text, images, videos, and 3D assets as inputs.
That concludes the major announcements from Roblox RDC 2024.
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