Thank you for your feedback on this post. We hear your concerns, and we’d like to give you more context on where we’re going and why we’re making these changes.
Our vision for avatars is for everyone to have an avatar they love, where they can communicate and express themselves in a way that’s authentic and natural.
To achieve this, we are adding face animation capabilities to all our avatar heads. This means that, over time, all the classic static face decals will be replaced by animated heads, featuring the same facial features and expressions, but with the added ability to animate. This process will be gradual and take some time – once heads have finished being updated, you will receive a new upgraded head with animation for each classic face you own.
We will update most heads by the end of the year and complete the rest in 2024. In the short term, you will see some differences:
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Each animated head will have only one head shape at the beginning. In the future, we will launch the ability to change head shapes, allowing you to recreate the range of face/head combinations available today, and more.
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The animated heads may not be an exact match – you might see small differences that cause your accessories to fit differently. In the future, we will launch a new way for you to adjust your accessory positions to get a custom fit on any head.
Although we will be replacing the classic face decals with animated heads, the iconic Roblox faces that we all love are not going away. As soon as a face receives an upgrade, we will remove the equivalent classic face from the Marketplace and replace it with the upgraded animated head so there is only one version available for purchase. And as a reminder, when we take a face off-sale in the Marketplace, it does not impact the faces that you own and already have in inventory.
When we launch the ability to animate your face with movement using your camera, you’ll have the option of animating your face using the camera on your phone or computer. This is optional and will always require you to consent to use your camera in this way. Roblox never transmits the video from your camera – all processing happens on your phone/computer. If you do not choose to enable your camera, your face can express using default animations instead.
We’re excited for you to try out animated faces for yourself, but realize this came as a surprise. In the future, we’ll give more advanced notice when we make changes that affect Roblox heads. Please continue to provide your feedback and read on for more information:
FAQ
Why did you take the classic heads and faces off-sale?
- When we add an upgraded head that supports facial animation we will remove the equivalent classic face, so there is only one version of a face available for purchase. Taking a face off-sale does not affect faces that you already own.
Why are we doing this?
- Our vision is to empower avatars that allow our players to express themselves and communicate with their friends in deeper ways. To enable this, we’re upgrading every face to support face animation.
Are you getting rid of blocky?
- No, we are committed to all avatar styles including the classic look of our early avatars, while enabling all avatars to support the latest avatar technology such as face animation.
Can I get my original head shape back?
- Yes. If you had a classic head equipped and you want to revert back to it, your original head is still in your inventory under Classic Head. In the future, we will be providing a new way for all your animated heads to match the classic shapes.
I can’t find the matching animated head to my static face.
- If you had the static face equipped, then the matching animated head will be in your inventory under Heads. Some of the names of the new animated head names are different from their static counterparts (Freckles is now Sun-kissed Freckles), but we are working to fix that as soon as possible to avoid further confusion.
Will my fantasy avatar head be upgraded with facial animation as well?
- Yes, we will be upgrading more heads to support facial animation to the shop so that in 2024 every head on Roblox can animate.
Do you store data from facial animation?
- No, we take your privacy seriously. When you use your camera to animate your avatar with your movement, animation key frames created by this process are deleted in real-time after they have been used and cannot be shared. Video from your camera never leaves your device. Learn more here.
What if I don’t want to enable my camera?
- That’s totally up to you! If you wish to not enable your camera, you don’t have to and can still use emotes to express yourself.
Why does my head with facial animation look different than the classic head?
- Converting a face to support animation sometimes requires technical or artistic changes to support the technology. This can result in small differences in eye or mouth position. In addition, each upgraded head has only one head shape – in the future, we will add a new way for your animated heads to match the classic shapes.
Why don’t heads with facial animation work well with certain accessories?
- The upgraded heads may have small shape differences due to the technical and artistic constraints needed to support face animation. Plus, each upgraded head has only one head shape right now. In the future, we’ll add a new way to adjust accessory positions so you can get a better fit on any head.
Why are heads with facial animation more expensive than classic heads?
- Soon, we will allow creators in the UGC Program to make animatable bodies and heads, so we want to benchmark the price of animated heads at a higher rate so our community-created avatars are properly valued.
Will my limited classic head be devalued?
- Limited heads will be updated while retaining the same serial number and limited quantity, with the added benefit to express emotion.