UGC Creator Junozy shares his POV on Roblox's UGC policy changes
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Roblox Expands Access to UGC Virtual Item Creation
Up until recently, Roblox UGC creation was limited to people who had been accepted into Roblox's UGC creator program. After announcing last year that UGC creation would be expanded to more people, Roblox just made those changes official in mid-April of 2024.
Now, Roblox users who have verified their identity with an official ID and who subscribe to Roblox's Premium 1000 or 2200 plans can upload and sell their UGC creations on the platform.
As a platform powered by creators, Roblox's creator expansion makes total sense to me. If I were in their shoes, I'd want more creators building and selling on the platform in order to increase the selection of items offered and hopefully boost sales.
Although I have spent time working on multiple campaigns that have involved creating sellable UGC items for brands, I am not a UGC creator myself. So these changes don't necessarily impact me directly.
In order to understand how preexisting UGC creators (who are theoretically impacted the most by these changes) are thinking and feeling about these new changes, I reached out to Junozy, who has previously shared his thoughts with me on UGC Trends and UGC tips, having sold over 35 million items.
Why This Roblox UGC Conversation Is Important
For better or worse, lots of brands interested in building on Roblox look at the popular platform (and its 71M+ daily active users) as a place to monetize their IP or brand, not just reach young consumers with marketing.
When brands think about monetization, UGC creation comes to mind as a pathway to drive revenue. And while it is true that brands have the potential to drive revenue via UGC sales, doing so is incredibly difficult.
And as you'll see from Junozy's answers below, UGC discoverability is a big challenge, even for expert creators like him who have sold millions of items on the platform.
The more brands can understand these challenges of selling on the platform, the more that they can set realistic expectations within their own companies. I'm not saying that brands shouldn't create paid UGC to sell on Roblox. I'm just saying that they should set realistic expectations and plan on playing a long game of building, testing, and iterating. This is the path that Dubit has taken with their UGC creation.
Without further ado, here's my interview with Junozy...
Stephen: How do you think Roblox's recent UGC policy changes that are opening up the ability to create UGC will impact you (if at all)?
Junozy: It's super exciting for me that Roblox is finally taking this next step to create an atmosphere where anyone can become a UGC creator and upload their own accessories. However, the issue that myself, and many other creators who have uploaded UGC prior to this public release, have is centered around the catalog algorithm and content moderation.
The main impact that this update is having on creators (including myself) is the visibility of their UGC- especially new creations. It's already really difficult for your UGC creations to be seen by players- and this increased amount of UGC saturation is an additional hurdle that many creators will not be able to get across.
Roblox's current algorithm does not do a super good job at boosting new creations (or is simply not able to provide visibility for the vast amount of items uploaded per day). It's also important to note that Roblox's UGC sponsorships system does not provide positive results.
On the content moderation side, we are seeing an overwhelming amount of IP infringing content being uploaded to the platform that will not be taken down without the authorization by the IP holder; this content often frontpages, taking up valuable slots and Robux spend that could have been taken by creators who make original & unique creations. Overall, myself and many other creators support a public UGC market... but not one like this.Â
Stephen: Compared to a year ago, is it easier or harder to make money selling UGC items in the marketplace? Why is that?
Junozy: I'd have to say it is significantly more difficult to make money selling UGC items in the marketplace today than it was a year ago. This is primarily due to the saturation of the catalog. There are too many items being uploaded for super low prices causing a race to the bottom. With the significant increase in the number of UGC creators, many are moving towards making things that are "trending" or "doing well" in the catalog instead of making their own unique creations, which is causing a lack of variety in the catalog... a lot of the content feels and looks the same.
This juxtaposes how the catalog was just a year ago, as people used to be motivated to make things that were unique and new, as they were able to get visibility for these creations, whereas today, they are not.Â
Stephen: If you could have Roblox make one UGC policy change, what would it be? Why?
Junozy: If I could have Roblox make one UGC policy change, it would have to do with content moderation. The influx of IP infringing content is a big stressor for many UGC creators. Opening the catalog and seeing the amount of "stolen" content (especially those that are selling well) is demotivating to creators who want to create original content and innovate in the UGC marketplace.
I opened the bestselling page of the catalog right now and I saw a plethora of copied Roblox Valkyrie Helms, characters and accessories from countless animes, a ripped Lightning McQueen model, and Lebron James's face plastered on a brick... if this is just the best-selling page, how many more infringing pieces are being uploaded that are not surfacing?
And it's not just big brands that are worried. Onsite creators are having their UGC ripped and reuploaded. And there is no easy method to find these copies for us creators. It's manual. I'd like to see Roblox step up their moderation system in some way to prevent this disintegration of catalog originality.
What do you want to learn more about on Roblox? Let me know if the comments here or on LinkedIn.
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Stephen Dypiangco is a marketing and strategy consultant helping entertainment and sports brands understand and activate on Roblox.