Hey developers,
We just completed a live test of our User-Generated Content (UGC) catalog. We are now enabling everybody on Roblox to view and buy items from the UGC catalog.
The UGC catalog will enable creators to publish and sell their own hats and other accessories to others on Roblox.
Initially, only a select few developers will be able to upload their creations to the UGC catalog. This group will give us feedback on the process and help us discover anything that we should change before we give access to broader groups. Our initial group will consist of a small number of developers. We will be expanding this incrementally in the future; see the below FAQ for more details.
As we move the platform to be increasingly driven by content created by our developer community, we seek to empower you to shape Roblox to be the experience that you want it to be.
Since we anticipate a lot of questions about this feature, we’ve compiled a list of some of the questions that have already been frequently asked:
FAQ:
Q: When will new waves of developers be given access to this feature? How are the developers chosen?
A: We will be adding more developers in small waves throughout the rest of 2019 and 2020. For the initial group, we chose developers who we have worked with in the past who also have experience with 3D modeling. The criteria for future developers given access is an ongoing discussion.
Q: Does selling Accessories in the UGC Catalog work the same way as selling other asset (e.g. the developer gets a cut of the profit)?
A: For UGC Accessories, just like UGC Shirts, T-shirts, and Pants, the creator will earn a cut. A lot of pieces of this program (like the fees Roblox takes on these items) will be adjusted over time. We will be testing different revenue sharing models to find the right balance - we want this program to be sustainable and benefit creators and players.
Q: How does Roblox ensure nobody just reuploads assets from the Roblox catalog or other peoples’ creations?
A: This is a hard problem to solve, and we’re still working on a solution that works at a large scale. This is part of the reason that the UGC catalog creator program is currently small and hard to get into - we have learned from shirts and pants and we are being very careful and thoughtful about these new UGC asset types. Asset copying between our creators (and Roblox) is protected against in the program policy.
Q: Will these assets go through moderation in the same ways as other assets?
A: Yep! We are also improving our moderation tools as the UGC catalog expands.
Q: Does Roblox plan to allow developers to sell UGC Accessories as Limited and Limited Unique items? Will Roblox stop making new Limited items?
A: For now, creators cannot release Limited, Limited Unique, or resellable UGC items. This is something we hope to open up as the UGC catalog becomes available to more creators. Roblox will keep making Limited items - we’re currently working on fixes in response to issues seen earlier this year, which is why you haven’t seen new Limited items lately.
Q: What asset types will be available in the UGC catalog and when?
A: At this time, we will be starting with Hat Accessories and incrementally adding support for other Accessories going forward.
Q: Will developers need to be Builder’s Club members to upload items to the UGC catalog?
A: Currently this is not a requirement to upload to the UGC catalog, since we have such a limited set of creators already. This may change in the future.
Q: What are the price floors and ceilings for selling UGC items? Will they differ by asset type?
A: The floor and ceiling for UGC item prices are subject to change depending on our first run of developers uploading to the UGC catalog. During this, we will be looking for the right numbers for us to stick with. Our initial price floors and ceilings are set based on the price ranges Roblox tends to see the most success with. Currently, for Hats, the floor is set at 120 R$. Other Accessory types may have different floors and ceilings when we enable UGC support for them.
Q: Will Groups be able to upload to the UGC catalog?
A: Long term, we want to allow Groups to upload to the UGC catalog. Group clothing stores are a very popular way to sell UGC Shirts and Pants and we want to enable this for other UGC asset types too.
Q: How will we know if we got picked to be part of the program?
A: We will have a much clearer process available in the future in regards to choosing developers to take part in the early stages of this program. Stay tuned for more information on that front.
Q: What can developers do to bring attention to their UGC items when the catalog becomes more open and allows more creators?
A: We have created a new category in the Catalog to highlight the new UGC item types. As we expand the program, we will be discussing what other methods of advertising make sense.
Q: Will there be a way to reward players in-game with UGC items?
A: We definitely want to allow rewarding UGC items in-game in the future - this has been an important part of events as long as they’ve been around, and we want to empower developers to make awesome games and events with prizes. However, since UGC items cannot currently be free, we’re still working on the best way to enable rewarding them as prizes. Additionally, UGC catalog items can currently be sold through games just as Roblox-owned catalog items can.
If you are interested in learning more about our plans for the UGC catalog and the future of the Roblox avatar, we highly recommend checking out the “Future of Avatar” presentation by Matt Brown given at RDC this weekend. You can access the video of the talk here and the slides presented here.
Thanks,
Developer Relations
Shout out to the team that made this possible: @givenothingback, @RoxyBloxyy, @n00b3n, @bitwiseandrea, @St4rst0n3, @WildSanity, @Rostelas, @CalGamesDev, @FarazTheGreat, @Osyris, @IittIehomie, @iriszh, @OuNissan, @Captain_Rando, @portenio
