RDC 2024: All Announcements

RDC 2024, the Roblox Developer Conference, is an annual event where the platform discusses the strides made thus far and future plans. Starting on September 6, 2024, this conference showed off the faster play-testing, increased number of bug fixes, and many other technical improvements made within the past year. Simultaneously, the conference has laid out a roadmap of what’s to come in the future to the blocky world of the platform.

This article details every major announcement that was made at RDC 2024.

All Major Announcements made at RDC 2024

Performance Stability and Quality Upgrades

Official cover image for Roblox (Image via Roblox)

The first section of RDC 2024 pertained to the planned upgrades to the Roblox framework that would boost frame rates regardless of device specs. This goal was planned with the idea of running a high-performance game on a low-end Android device without compromising the smoothness of the experience.

To achieve this, the platform has begun rolling out Harmony, a scaling tech that reallocates device resources to identify and prevent crashes. This can help low-end devices avoid crashes due to low memory, making it a handy instrument for all developers.

Another new way to improve the overall performance stability is a process known as automatic occlusion. This impacts the visuals of the game very slightly, in that only non-essential props would disappear, should the device be low on memory. Not only does this increase performance stability, but it also causes up to 35% reduction in scene rendering time.

Moving forward, the platform will allocate more server data per user to each game. Starting at 6.4 GB, the experience’s server resources will expand by 50 MB for each new player.

These upgrades are significant for improving both the stability and the quality of an experience. High-end devices will still enjoy Roblox titles at the highest graphical fidelity, while low-spec devices will be able to run them at a satisfactory level.

Asset Manager, Automated Tests, and Insights

Sample image of the Asset Manager (Image via Roblox Dev Forum)

The Asset Manager has received a complete overhaul, granting creators the ability to sort their assets into folders. This gives the app the appearance of a file explorer, with various tools added into the mix.

Developers will also be able to use the Open Cloud Engine API to execute Luau by late 2024. This will help them run automated tests through GitHub integrations.

Creators can now view server performance dashboards to analyze what is causing optimization hang-ups in low-end Android devices. CPU usage, server memory, X-ray mode, and flame graphs are all present and accounted for, giving developers all the required information in a neat package.

Creation Improvements and Scaling

Template preview in Roblox Studio (Image via Roblox Dev Forum)

The Roblox Studio client will receive many additions and improvements, which include task automation, experience templates, and more. This affords a higher degree of control to the game makers, streamlining the mundane parts of development and allowing them to focus on core game design.

Data Store upgrades are planned to launch by late 2024 per the RDC 2024 announcement, which will directly address some of the grievances raised by developers on Roblox. High-level APIs, defining standardized schemas for various common applications, session locking to prevent automatic log-outs and a Data Store explorer will be released soon.

Creators will also have more control over avatars concerning hitboxes, scaling, and other adjusting factors. This improves the flexibility the developers have during development and removes the need to rely on third-party fixes and custom allow/deny lists for UGCs.

Another salient point of creation improvements is the number of tools the game makers can use to improve their creations and user experiences. Translation stands as one of the most prominent improvements of them all, with real-time translation API planned for release in late 2024. Creators will be able to translate in-game text, thumbnails, icons, and more using this API.

Text to Speech and Speech to Text are two features that are planned to be added in early 2025. These features can expand the horizons of storytelling, allowing the developer to add narrations, NPC voice roles, and more.

The Matchmaking tools have been overhauled, allowing developers to customize how different players are matched with each other in multiplayer games. Options like skill-based matchmaking can be used to create pools of users of similar skill, behavior, and experience profiles.

Lastly, Roblox has announced a 3D Foundational Model that harnesses the power of generative 3D creation on the platform. This open-source platform will allow users to create 3D experiences using text, video, and 3D asset inputs. The model prioritizes the use of generative AI over manual hand-crafted creations to seemingly innovate the future of gameplay.

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Paid Access Revenue Share, Affiliation, and other Programs

Purchasing merchandise through in-game e-commerce integration (Image via Roblox Dev Forum)

Developers will have more tools and opportunities to earn money through the experiences they create, per the RDC 2024 announcement. One of the major talking points of this section is Price Optimization, a tool that suggests prices for in-game purchases to help improve sales. The tool gives creators an insight into what players may consider overpriced while being mindful of what would be a fair price for them.

Game makers who create paid access games can now claim a higher share of the generated revenue. A game priced at $9.99 grants the creator a 50% revenue split. This increases to 60% and 70% for titles priced at $29.99 and $49.99, respectively. The platform informed developers at RDC 2024 that this will be implemented shortly in the creator’s local currency, with gradual support extension.

Creators will be able to sell their merchandise directly from their experiences, starting in early 2025. This would entail integrations with e-commerce platforms like Shopify. Additionally, more ways for Roblox developers to earn money will be introduced in the near future, such as the Creator Affiliate Program and Partner Program.

RDC 2024 has made it clear that both programs will be made available to all creators in 2025, with the Partner Program starting in January. The Affiliate Program lets developers get a share of the Robux purchased on the platform, while the Partner Program allows brands to connect with developers. Both of these are new opportunities that help creators by leaps and bounds.

Multiplayer Improvements, Communities, and Music Integration

Preview of the Party feature (Image via Roblox)

One of the largest improvements to the multiplayer aspect of Roblox will be rolled out later this year. Known as Party, players will be able to create friend groups and use voice and text communication throughout the platform. Party is scheduled to launch with text communication first, then with voice.

This feature will be improved upon even further over time through API integrations that inform Robloxians when a Party joins the same experience. Party members can also be given visual identifiers, which lets them find each other easily while exploring an experience.

Another major addition to the platform is Roblox Communities, a tool that lets players and developers form communities and interact with people of similar interests. This tool improves developer-player communication as well, making it so players won’t have to seek social media platforms or in-game news for announcements. Communities will be launched in late 2024 as a rebranded version of Roblox Groups, as announced at RDC 2024.

Lastly, the platform has added a massive library of music to the Creator Store. This was made possible through DistroKid integration, which will be expanded in the future. With improvements, music creators who own the rights to their creations will be able to upload them through Distrokid.

Like other features, this will be expanded upon in the coming months, allowing players to find the most popular and trending tracks on the platform.

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