LogInToday, gaming isn't just about playing anymore. Gamers also design and come up with their own inventions. User-generated content has evolved into a platform for gamers to showcase and articulate their creative concepts.
80 Level and Room 8 Group's insights highlight some major shifts in the game industry: User-Generated Content is blowing up, one can hear “AI” left and right, and cloud gaming is on the rise. We're going to explore the upsides of UGC, how it's used in games, and what's coming next.
Room 8 Group is an end-to-end strategic partner in external game development. Working across all platforms, the company provides creative and technical solutions across art, game development, technology, trailers, and QA for AAA and AA games.
User-generated content (UGC) is becoming increasingly popular in the gaming industry. This trend is changing how players interact with games and each other. UGC has the potential to improve different aspects of a game, leading to a more personalized and engaging experience for players. Based on our interviews, some key areas where UGC can be implemented include:
- Items and Objects;
- Character Creation and Customization;
- UI Enhancements;
- Gameplay Modifications;
- Level Design;
- Social Interactions.
Scott Reismanis, CEO at mod.io:
There's so much that UGC can do. It depends a lot on the game and what their engine permits. If it's a simulation game, they like to introduce new trucks, cars, trains, planes, and boats. If it's a shooting game, they want to introduce new levels, characters, and skins. Then, it's challenging and interesting new biomes and worlds. It's quality of life and UI enhancements. Finally, the gameplay. You can potentially introduce the ability for players to influence the gameplay that the game offers.
When talking about UGC, it's necessary to highlight that it's mainly driven by the habits and preferences of younger players. This trend has contributed to the success of games like Fortnite and Roblox.
Yann LeTensorer, VP of Technology at Room 8 Group:
UGC is already at the heart of some of the most successful games and platforms today and for the past 10-15 years. The “big 3” Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite, but also games like Skyrim, Farming Simulator, Little Big Planet, and No Man's Sky, benefit a lot from UGC. UGC is a tool for creativity, extends the lifespan of games, helps build communities, increases player engagement and retention, reduces the cost of development, and generates new revenue streams for creators.
Thanks to the extensive UGC ecosystem, more than 85.3 million users around the world were actively playing Roblox games daily during the fourth quarter of 2024.
As for Fortnite, it had over 650 million registered players by the end of 2024. The number of creators in Fortnite also saw a significant increase, tripling from 24,000 in 2023 to 70,000 in 2024.
Jan Sechovec, Technology Director at Revolgy’s Cloud Gaming Department:
I can really see third parties contributing to the games. Currently, more and more game studios are coming with sandboxes. If I take Fortnite as an example, they have Unreal editor which is a huge user-generated content technology and they took it from the ground up because they made it very meaningful in their ecosystem. It means that actually everyone currently can be a Fortnite developer, creating levels, entire universes, and sharing it with friends and with the community or with everyone, which is good.
It's also worth noting that UGC thrives in the RPG and action genres. The modding community is strong, especially for games like Skyrim, which has over 69,000 mods on Nexus and 27,000 on Steam.
Monetizing UGC and fostering creator economies in games like Roblox and Fortnite offer opportunities but also challenges. Players are used to free mods, so costs need justification. While professional content creators might produce higher-quality content, it's essential to clearly communicate the value to players to gain their support.
Scott Reismanis, CEO at mod.io:
There's a lot of consideration when it comes to the monetization of UGC and the opportunity surrounding creator economies and studios wanting to do projects like Roblox and Fortnite. One is: How do we make sure that it's wanted by players? I guess modding has historically been free in games. And so, the argument is that we really want creators to be able to pursue this as a career and not just a passion if they so desire. We believe doing so will allow them to apply more time, effort, and energy to polished, higher-quality content.
What Does the Future Hold for UGC?
We're seeing a growing trend towards players becoming creators themselves , along with an increasing focus by developers on encouraging them to produce content. As the creators invest countless hours and efforts into creating new experiences, one of the strongest ways to inspire players to be creative is to encourage them with monetary rewards.
Recently, Roblox announced that they've paid out $280M USD to creators in Q4 2024 alone, for a total of nearly $930M USD for the year. This dwarfs the $352M USD Fortnite reported paying to creators over 2024.
The data regarding earnings within the Roblox creator community reveals that the top 10 creators have an impressive average earning of $30M USD.
Summing up, supporting UGC development requires building a community of players willing to invest in content creation. This can be achieved in various ways, including offering monetary rewards and creating an environment where their efforts are appreciated and valued by other players.
If you want to know:
- What are the main challenges of UGC and how to overcome them?
- What tools are available for UGC creation?
- Will UGC be integrated into genres where it has not been traditionally prevalent?
- Will cloud, AI, and UGC converge and what is the future of this combination?
Read the 80 Level & Room 8 Group research How UGC, AI, And Cloud Are Transforming Gaming for FREE to find answers to these questions and learn about other intriguing trends in the gaming industry.