Roblox wants to take on Fortnite and PUBG with 100-player lobbies

Out of all of the RDC 2024 announcements this year, perhaps the one least surprising is the impending Roblox scale and performance tools to push the performance of its platform, even going so far as to want to see 100-player games on it. The possibilities in this regard are endless. Creators could build open worlds and try to emulate the likes of PUBG Mobile, Fortnite, and more.

It’s not as if Roblox lacks battle royale games, but they’re not on the largest possible scale. The new tools look to change that, pushing the platform harder than before, and offering Roblox creators more opportunities to make their experiences must-play Roblox games for the masses.

The first new tool is the 3D Foundational Model, which utilizes AI technology. Roblox intends to cater this model more for 3D content creators, helping those who already develop experiences and perhaps making this a bit easier for future creators. Ultimately, the 3D Foundational Model is there to help you create different scenes, be that for anime games or an amalgamation of other styles.

In the name of being transparent, Roblox doesn’t intend to integrate this tool into its current ones, making it open source. Nonetheless, the aim is to aid developers in creating their vision, enabling them to build plug-ins to customize the model as they need to, going so far as to fine-tune it to fit the aesthetic of their experience. Keep your eyes open as Roblox intends to bring you even more tools through the power of AI, continuing its achievements with Code Assist and Texture Generator.

Roblox’s vice president of engineers, Anupam Singh, explains, “With the combination of AI and our endlessly creative creator community, the future will go beyond anything we have imagined today with an open-source solution that is not just foundational for us, but foundational for the industry.”

Changes beyond the 3D Foundational Model include performance harmonizing technology, aerodynamic, and automatic occlusion culling. The first of these, performance harmonizing, is technology Roblox aims to use in a bid to combat stability, presentation, and perceptual quality. In Lamen’s terms, this can help to ensure a smoother experience for players, particularly in the larger fun Roblox games that push the limits. Furthermore, this tech aids with latency, FPS, lighting, physics, sound, and more beyond just visuals. The picture above gives you a look at before and after the use of performance harmonizing.

As for aerodynamics, first seen at RDC 2023, this technology reduces the scripting creators need to do to create a more realistic wind simulation. There’s nothing quite like stuttering to the ground after jumping out of a plane to tear from the immersion of an experience, so for those who like to use aircraft in the games they create, being able to offer realism is essential.

For context on why this is so important, rickje139, the creator of Plane Crazy, a game with more than 355 million visits, explains that after using a custom aerodynamics system full of issues, they “begun experimenting with bringing Roblox’s physics-aligned aerodynamics system into the gameplay. Now, my players can customize their own planes and decide which parts they want to be affected by aerodynamics. With the new aerodynamics system, the possibilities are endless for the types of planes people fly and how those planes fly! I’m so excited to see what crazy combinations people create.”

Finally, the third bit of technology is automatic occlusion culling, which goes hand in hand with the harmonizing tech. Simply put, if you can’t see an object because there is something in front of it, Roblox won’t load it. With all of these tools and tech, perhaps Roblox really will offer smooth experiences akin to games like Fortnite. That certainly would provide a good thing to talk about in the new Roblox Party and Communities features, and thanks to the new Roblox music capabilities, you might be able to listen to some great tunes while you’re at it.

There were many more RDC 2024 announcements, including a look at some new Roblox creator revenue avenues. If you’re not a creator but want to get your hands on something, check out our Anime Royale codes, Dress to Impress codes, and Special Anime Defense codes guides.