The 2024 Roblox Developer’s Conference has arrived, offering fans a glimpse into the platform’s ambitious future as it sets its sights on reaching 1 billion daily active users. Roblox founder and CEO David Baszucki revealed that achieving this milestone will involve empowering creators to build successful businesses, scaling both creation and access, and fostering greater community connections. While Roblox has made impressive strides, boasting 79.5 million daily active users as of June 2024, Baszucki believes that with the right strategies in place, Roblox will transform the gaming landscape, potentially channeling “10% of all gaming revenue” through its ecosystem and benefiting its creator community.

Among the notable plans is the introduction of a new Party system. Set to launch later this year, this feature will allow friends to easily play and communicate together. Initially, players aged nine and up can text within the app, with voice capabilities to follow by year-end for phone-verified users aged 13 and older. Party will operate both inside and outside of Roblox games, and early next year, an API will allow developers to enhance the system by teleporting players to the same starting point, placing them in private lobbies, or pre-pairing them on the same team.

Roblox is also rebranding its Roblox Groups to Roblox Communities. These new spaces will facilitate player interaction through forums where users can share feedback, discuss favorite games, and report issues. Additionally, Roblox is expanding into music, introducing features like What’s Playing and Music Charts. Integration with the music distribution service DistroKid will simplify the process for artists to upload their work or find music to include in their projects.

In terms of creator support, Roblox has announced a Creator Affiliate Program that rewards developers for bringing new users to the platform. By sharing unique referral links, creators can earn a share of revenue generated from new users’ Robux purchases for the first six months. This program is now open for applications, offering up to 50% on qualified purchases, with full availability expected by mid-2025. Moreover, Roblox is enhancing content discovery, with improved homepage visibility and increased ad impressions, up from 1.6% in March 2024 to over 8% by June 2024.

The platform is also focused on AI and device optimization. The new Harmony technology aims to optimize Roblox performance across various devices, including supporting high-performance games on devices with just 2GB of RAM. A new 3D foundational model, set to be open-source and multimodal, will enable developers to generate content through text, video, and 3D prompts, allowing for the creation of diverse visual styles and complete worlds.

Additionally, Roblox is working on helping creators monetize their projects more effectively. A forthcoming tool will assist in optimizing in-experience pricing by recommending attractive pricing strategies and regional pricing options. Creators will also be able to sell physical merchandise within their experiences, thanks to partnerships with e-commerce platforms like Shopify. Furthermore, new pricing structures will allow creators to price paid experiences in real currency, offering revenue shares of 50%, 60%, and 70% for prices of $9.99, $29.99, and $49.99, respectively, with a rollout expected later this year for desktop and potentially other devices in the future.

Impact on Marketers

These advancements present significant opportunities for marketers. The enhanced Party system and new community features open up new channels for targeted marketing and in-game promotions. The integration of music and improved content discovery can create new avenues for branded experiences and collaborations with artists. Furthermore, the Creator Affiliate Program offers a new way to leverage influencers and creators to drive user acquisition, while the optimized pricing and merchandise sales tools provide additional revenue streams. Overall, these developments will expand the reach and engagement of marketing campaigns on Roblox, positioning it as a central player in the digital marketing landscape.