Big news for Roblox game developers: If they’ve ever wanted to make games based on blockbuster IPs like Squid Game, Stranger Things, Twilight, and Saw (and not worry about entertainment lawyers breathing down their necks with cease & desists…), they now have their chance, thanks to Roblox’s new IP licensing platform.
We just wrote about how Blue Lock: Rivals, a fanmade soccer Roblox game based on the hit manga/anime, was acquired for $3 million by DoBig Studios. To be clear, we don’t know whether Rivals‘ original teenage developer had an agreement with Blue Lock‘s IP owner, but what we do know is there are plenty of other Roblox games classed as “Fandom,” where they’re based on established IPs. And it’s unlikely they all have agreements with IP owners, because securing said agreements is tough and time-consuming, especially for solo developers.
Those games should count as transformative works, and are therefore protected under U.S. copyright law. When transformative works are free, they tend to be left alone. But there are fandom games on Roblox making millions of dollars a month, and Rivals is one of them. With that sort of money crossing the table, IP owners that would normally look the other way for fanmade merch might start feeling a little litigious.
Subscribe to get the latest creator news
This platform will let both IP owners and fans mitigate concerns over content ownership and monetization.
“Our vision is to empower all creators to easily partner with the franchises they love and bring the franchises’ licensed IP into their experiences,” Roblox said in an announcement. “To achieve this, we’re simplifying how IP owners manage and license their IP at scale so that creators can use that IP on Roblox.”
Basically, an IP owner can list their property on the platform, set rules for which creators can use it and how, and then will automatically collect monetization shares if/when a dev makes a game based on their IP.
Owners can also add their IP to the platform retroactively, after a fanmade game has already been published on Roblox’s systems. In fact, Kodansha, the owner of Blue Lock, is adding that IP to this platform next month, meaning Blue Lock: Rivals will officially be in the clear.
This option is an important one, because it means if a fanmade game does start making millions, the IP owner has an option other than nuking it from existence. Now, a rightsholder can choose to work with the creator, leave the game up, and simply share in the revenue being raked in.
“Until now, licensing IP was a complex and time-consuming process. Potential licensees had to negotiate with a variety of stakeholders and submit to regular reviews, and the process could take months,” Roblox said. “Not only did rights holders struggle to discover interested creators, but the nature of the process meant that only a select group of larger studios were able to benefit.”
Through its new platform, “What used to be a months-long process, often limited to a select few, now allows all eligible creators and rights holders to secure licensed use of an IP in just days or hours,” it added.
Roblox’s platform is launching with seven IPs: the aforementioned Squid Game, Stranger Things, Twilight, Saw, and Blue Lock, plus Divergent, Now You See Me, the video game Like a Dragon (aka the Yakuza series), and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
This could prove to be a great thing for fan game developers. As for rightsholders, Jenefer Brown, EVP and Head of Global Products and Experiences at Lionsgate, told Variety this “expands our ability to reach and engage our fan community directly on Roblox in the deepest way possible.”
“This is the first time creators will get the chance to impact our experiences in the platform, building on our successful Roblox experiences for the latest The Hunger Games and Saw films and the MovieStore activation we created for Twilight,” she went on. “By giving creators and fans access to our top IP, we hope to inspire them to develop new Roblox experiences centered around Lionsgate content. We expect this tool will make it easy and efficient for creators to share their interest and develop great experiences for fans.”
