[Update] September 15, 2023
Hi Creators,
We are excited to announce that by tomorrow, UGC Program members will be able to create and sell full avatar bodies and standalone heads.
Your creativity has made our Marketplace more vibrant and dynamic than we could have imagined. And as we shared in Our Vision for the Roblox Economy, this update allows us to offer you more tools to create and ways to monetize your creativity.
This is just the beginning of our efforts to expand access to avatar creation that enables more immersive communication and self-expression across Roblox. Avatars let people represent their identity and how they want to be seen on the platform, so we want you to be able to create a wide range of skin tones, body sizes, hair colors, textures, and styles to enable self-expression.
We also believe expression is made better with communication that mirrors real life. For years, we’ve been bringing the future of communication on Roblox to life with avatar-specific features like facial animation and chat with voice (beta). Any head you create will support facial animation, so everyone can emote and connect in more immersive ways.
To help you get started, we have included the policies, technical requirements, tools, and resources below. We are always inspired by our community and we can’t wait to see the avatars you create.
Example: Validation process for custom avatars
Policies and Technical Requirements
Our Marketplace Policies and Technical Requirements have been updated with rules that are specific to bodies and heads. We’ve listed some of the key guidelines and requirements below. Please note that these guidelines and requirements may change over time.
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Like other content types, bodies and heads need to follow all Roblox Community Standards, Marketplace Policy and pass proactive checks against Roblox IP.
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For bodies, this means they need to have modesty layers built in to ensure the safety of all community members on the platform.
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There is not just a maximum, but a minimum size requirement for each part. This is to ensure all avatar bodies interact with all Roblox experiences in a way other creators can plan for.
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Bodies and heads must be sold separately from clothing, accessories, and other decorations for now. This means components like beards, glasses, makeup, and tattoos should not be baked into the body or head.
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Heads can include at most 3 assets (base head, eyebrows, eyelashes).
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Bodies must include a head, but heads can be uploaded individually.
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Bodies and heads have no upload fee and no minimum price.
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Each creator can upload up to 10 bodies and/or standalone heads per day. Creators must upload their own original work.
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Currently, bodies and heads cannot be created as a group or made Limited.
Recommended Guides and Tools
Creating avatar bodies and heads are complex due to the 3D and dynamic nature of the designs. We’ve created guides and tools below to help you get started. Many of these steps are optional, but we recommend using them.
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Avatar templates and guides: These templates are designed to help you skip several complex steps, saving you time when creating bodies and heads, and include everything you will need to create a new, fully functioning avatar. We are continuing to work on making it easier and more enjoyable to create new avatars for the platform.
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Validation tool for Blender: This tool is designed to help you catch errors as early in the creation process as possible. This tool is meant for validation and we still recommend that you export using the documented settings.
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3D Importer validation in Studio: The 3D importer has been updated to help you catch validation issues as you bring your file into Studio. It will still work for other types of content and for bodies that are not meant for the Marketplace, but it will help flag common issues with textures, cages, and more.
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Studio Avatar Previewer: This tool will let you preview animations, clothing, accessories, and other body parts on your avatar body before you commit to uploading it to the Marketplace.
Earning From Creating Bodies and Heads
Bodies and heads can be sold on the Marketplace or within an experience. For bodies and heads that have been purchased on the Marketplace or through an experience, the creator will receive 30%. If a user purchases the body or head within an experience, the affiliate (experience owner) will also receive 40%. Further details can be found on our Marketplace Fees and Commissions page.
Creating a Healthy Marketplace
We want to reiterate that our Marketplace Policies prohibit creating items that are overly similar to existing items. If creators violate these guidelines, we reserve the right to remove the item from our Marketplace, remove the creator from the UGC Program, and/or suspend the creator’s account.
What’s Next
We have heard your feedback and plan on adding the ability for bodies and heads to be Limited, to be sold by groups, and to be sold with accessories or clothing as one bundle. Stay tuned for updates.
Thank you.
FAQs
Click here to view the FAQ!
Why are there minimum and maximum sizes for each body part?
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Avatars are the basis of a user’s presence within an experience. That means the avatar you are wearing greatly affects your ability to participate in your virtual environment- your height, proportions, and hitbox are all derived from the avatar body.
To make sure experienced creators can plan a good experience for the range of avatar appearances on the platform, we need to set some functional limits, including setting minimum and maximum sizes for body parts, and ensuring that all bodies have a full, visible set of parts (head, torso, arms, legs).
Why can’t creators upload static faces?
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Avatars that animate through movement create a more immersive and engaging experience for users, leading them to socialize and express themselves in deeper ways.
Therefore, we are moving towards a future where all heads and bodies have the ability to animate. Our newly launched avatar heads and bodies must be able to animate, so everyone has access to the latest technology like animate your avatar with movement.
Do bodies need to be R15 Compatible?
- Yes, all avatars must be R15 because of their advanced animation and motion. R15 has 15 body parts which make it look and feel more realistic. R15 also has access to the latest animation technology like animate your avatar. Today, 98% of Roblox users have R15 avatars, so these new bodies and heads will be compatible with the avatar bodies and heads that most users have.
What are considered body “decorations” that are not allowed on uploaded bodies and heads?
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Decorations that are not allowed include tattoos, makeup, and or body paint. We allow shading and shadowing on Avatar heads to show dimension and definition, such as shading of the eyelids in a tone similar to skin tone, eyelashes, and so on. To see more details about what is permitted, please see Marketplace Policy for further details.
We believe bodies and heads should be a blank canvas and for decorations like makeup and tattoos to be acquired separately so they can work with any head and body to maximize ways users can customize their look and express themselves.
Why do bodies and heads have a price range of 0-10,000 Robux?
- Bodies and heads can be sold for free (i.e., there is no minimum price) and do not have an upload fee. Avatars are an essential part of your identity on Roblox and bodies and heads are the foundation. Therefore, we want to encourage the creation of bodies and heads and give people greater access to them by excluding upload fees and price minimums. When we enable bodies to be sold with additional parts like clothing or accessories, we will implement separate pricing rules.
What are we doing about copies in Marketplace?
- Bodies and heads will have the same guidelines and proactive checks against Roblox IP that other types of avatar content have today. All avatar content, including heads and bodies, uploaded to the Roblox Marketplace must follow Marketplace Policy and pass checks against Roblox IP. We’ve heard your concerns in this area, and are continuing to improve our approach. Stay tuned.
What do I do if I believe someone has copied the body or standalone head I created?
- If you believe that someone has infringed on your intellectual property by making a copy of your creation, you can submit an intellectual property takedown notice to us. For instructions on how to submit a takedown notice please see: Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Guidelines
