Roblox announced a suite of new features around creators and artificial intelligence today that doubles down on its vision for the metaverse, which includes Web3-like capabilities without the blockchain. 

The platform’s new additions appear to bolster opportunities for marketers to drive loyalty, such as through a new, in-game subscription service and more immersive social capabilities.  

Roblox Connect is a new feature that will allow players to speak with each other, inside the platform, as their avatars. The characters will mimic the voice and facial expressions of a player as picked up by the camera and microphone on their desktop or mobile device, minimizing the need for external communication that could potentially take a player out of the immersive environment.

Another addition revolves around Limiteds, which are virtual accessories—clothing, bodies, heads—that users can create and publish as a limited quantity, and even re-sell once purchased. The feature first launched in April to members of Roblox’s user-generated content (UGC) program, and is now expanding to all creators.

“The idea is to create scarcity and utility,” Christina Wootton, Roblox’s chief partnerships officer, told Ad Age. 

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Scarcity and utility, of course, are concepts that are part of the backbone of NFTs. But whereas crypto-backed tokens have struggled to find a way into popular gaming and metaverse platforms, Limiteds could find an immediate demand with Roblox’s 60-plus million user base.

Roblox seems to be offering many of the capabilities associated with the metaverse—immersive sociability, platform-native economy, digital scarcity—without any of the blockchain fuss. The reasons for staying away from crypto are varied, including issues relating to child and brand safety. But Roblox’s Web3 lacuna may be more easily explained by a simple lack of need for blockchain technology.

“No 12- or 16- or 22-year-old is asking, “Why should I do this without blockchain?” said Joe Ferencz, founder and chief executive of metaverse game developer Gamefam, which develops Roblox games. 

Related: Roblox game helps kids recognize online predatords

The upshot for marketers is that crypto-related technology, once seen as a technological imperative, may not be necessary for metaverse activations. Roblox is showing that many of Web3’s welcomed advantages, such as opportunities around loyalty, are possible in a centralized platform after all.

In-game subscriptions

One of the more substantive features announced today allows creators to offer subscriptions within their experiences. No longer will users have to pay in Robux, Roblox’s native currency, upon each entry, but instead can buy into a recurring economic relationship with their favorite creators. 

Wootton alluded to subscriptions as a mechanism for brands to drive loyalty, which calls to mind the kinds of gated experiences that NFTs also made possible. In fact, Limiteds could feasibly function as memberships themselves, granting entry into a brand’s subscription, a Roblox spokesperson said.

The earnings policies surrounding Limiteds further indicate Roblox’s desire to fuel economic opportunities in its platform. For every mint, or the first time a Limited accessory is published, the creator receives a 30% cut of the sale. If they also created the experience in which the item was sold, they will receive another 40%. For every re-sale of the Limited, the creator receives a 10% royalty, and the reseller will receive a 50% cut of the sale.

Royalty fees have long been touted as an advantage of NFTs, a theoretical attraction to a creator economy that is often exploited on centralized platforms. But this promise has turned out to be a bust as NFT marketplaces have eliminated royalties in order to boost sales in a depressed market.

Just how similarly Limiteds could function as NFTs will depend on the emergence of a secondary marketplace, said Ferencz. Reselling of Limiteds appears to be solely available to premium users at the moment, but given the way in which Roblox tends to expand access over time, that may soon change. 

Another way that Roblox is vying for creators, and in so doing, consumers and brands, is by appearing on more consoles. The platform announced on Friday that it will be supported on PlayStation by October. 

Roblox also recently integrated with Meta’s Quest VR headset, a beta launch that saw over 1 million downloads in roughly one week, according to Roblox’s Chief Executive David Baszucki. A full, public launch on Quest is planned for later this month, the platform announced.

Meanwhile, generative AI is a rising focus for Roblox, given the technology’s ability to democratize content creation. Roblox announced on Friday the launch of Assistant, a conversational bot that, resembling ChatGPT, will aim to help creators develop their experiences more quickly and efficiently.

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CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the earning policies for Limiteds.