Roblox announces AI Assistant and more features to boost its creator economy

At its annual Developers Conference today, Roblox announced several new developments aimed at helping creators get more from the platform.

Over the past few years, the gaming platform has drawn in celebs like Paris Hilton and Karlie Kloss and brands like Vans and Gucci, but today's announcements mark a concerted effort from Roblox to promote a more robust ecosystem of user-generated content.

From Marketplace updates to monetization, here's what's coming next for creators on Roblox.

Creating with generative AI

Everyone is getting into the AI game, and Roblox is no exception. The platform says it will soon be adding Assistant, a conversational AI, to help creators and brands build and code experiences. That could make creation on the platform more accessible to creators without a lot of technical savvy and more powerful for creators who are already technical whizzes. 

Roblox told Mashable that "working with Assistant is collaborative and iterative" and enables creators to "provide feedback" to Assistant which will then work to "provide the right solution."

A mock up of what Roblox's Assistant AI will look like to creators. Credit: Roblox

Roblox Marketplace is now open to all

In a huge win for Roblox's creator economy, the platform will be opening up its Marketplace to all users. Until now, only select users and brands who had been approved as part of Roblox's UGC Program could list and sell items. With this update, anyone anywhere can share their work and get paid for it.

Roblox notes that this change will diversify the offerings on the marketplace to help every user find items and avatars that best represent them, their skin tone, body type, hair, and more.

Experience subscriptions have arrived

Later this year, creators can begin offering subscriptions to users within their Roblox experiences. Roblox told Mashable it sees subscriptions as a new way for creators to "monetize in the way they think is best for their business" and "potentially increase the predictability of their earnings."

In-experience subscriptions will empower creators to find new ways to monetize their work. Credit: Roblox

No specific details have been announced about how creators can set tier levels or subscription frequency (week, month, etc), but Roblox did provide a few examples of how it hoped subscriptions would be used: in a traditional fan club format, as a way to license an educational experience, and to create "trunk clubs" for digital clothing.