Roblox announces ‘Build,’ AI tools that let anyone create games

Roblox is bringing Build, a set of AI tools, to its app in order to help users create games on the platform.Credit: Roblox

Roblox has a whopping 132 million daily active users. But, while Roblox is massively popular among gamers, it’s also quite popular among game creators as well. There are millions of user-generated games or experiences on Roblox.

However, it seems like those millions of games and experiences aren’t enough.

Roblox has just announced Build, a brand new set of AI tools focused on user game or experience creation.

“Somewhere right now, someone has an idea for a game,” Roblox said in its statement announcing Build. “They know exactly what it would feel like to play. They just don’t know how to build it. Today, that changes.”

Roblox’s Build will launch a test phase on July 28 which will bring a new mobile-first Build tab into the Roblox Studio within Roblox’s app. Roblox Studio is well-known among game developers as that’s where they currently create Roblox experiences. Build is going to bring new AI tools into the Roblox Studio. These AI tools will be powered by a “broad set” of AI models including Roblox’s own proprietary AI models.

Using Build, users will be able to generate environments, characters, visual styles, gameplay mechanics, sound, and more without leaving the Roblox app and without needing to know the technical elements of game development.

Game-makers will be able to provide Build with conversational, natural language prompts in order to develop their games and experiences. From there, they will be able to playtest their game creations and refine the output in order to fix issues, add elements, or continue to customize their game before sharing the final product.

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According to Roblox, its AI models are trained on a large set of 3D models and gaming data so that they can generate fully functioning 3D models and scenes of their own.

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“For 20 years, Roblox has been on a mission to remove limits on what gaming is – and what it can be,” Roblox founder and CEO David Baszucki said in a statement posted to his X account. “Today, we’re introducing Build – a new way for anyone to create a game on Roblox from their phone. And we’re expanding AI-powered tools for developers of every level.” 

“We’re doing this for one reason: The world needs more play,” he continued.

Some Build features, such as the ability to publish games, will only be available to select users in a public alpha stage at launch. For example, users in New Zealand will be part of the initial test phase for publishing Build-created games. Roblox expects to roll Build to more creators and more regions in the coming months.

Roblox also shared that it will be rolling out new AI agents across both Build and Studio that can bug test games, explain game analytics, and help creators experiment with different options to help drive engagement and monetization.

Build will be available for age-checked users 9 and older and published games that go through safety checks will be available to age-checked users 16 and older. Build games for Roblox Kids or Select catalogs will go through an extended review process that all Roblox games must undergo.

The company plans to provide a free base tier of Build to users with paid options for power users in the future.

Roblox has long-ago established itself as a platform over a traditional gaming experience. Some of the most popular games, such as Steal a Brainrot, have been created by Robox’s users. The company clearly believes there are even more potential gems out there from creators who don’t necessarily have the skillset or knowledge to create them. Roblox is hoping to remove that barrier to entry.

At the same time, however, Roblox is addressing potential issues that Build could bring about in order to avoid controversies like its age-verification system. In its Build announcement, Roblox assures users that AI slop will continue to be filtered out thanks to how its discovery systems are designed. 

“The quality of games on the homepage isn’t changing: If no one plays it—no one can find it,” the company said.

TopicsArtificial IntelligenceGamingVideo Games