Weekend Highlights (September 7-8)

Roblox aims to capture 10% of global video game market revenue, Heaven 17 has refused to add their song to GTA VI due to an insultingly low fee, and over a million mods for Baldur's Gate 3 were downloaded in a single day — here's what happened in the gaming industry over the weekend.

Baldur’s Gate 3. Mod: Lightsabers — Star Wars mod

• At the end of last week, Roblox held a conference for developers. During a keynote, Roblox CEO David Baszucki stated that the platform has set a new ambitious goal: to ensure that 10% of the global video game market revenue is accounted for by the Roblox ecosystem. Currently, Roblox estimates the annual revenue of the market to be $180 billion. Recall that for 2023, Roblox earned $2.8 billion. This amount is a record for the platform, but it is far below what Baszucki hopes to achieve over time.
• Baszucki also announced that game developers on Roblox will soon be able to set prices for their projects in real currency. This feature will first become available in the desktop version of Roblox, followed by versions for consoles and mobile devices. Roblox will charge a commission of 30% for a game priced at $49.99, 40% for a game priced at $29.99, and 50% for a game priced at $9.99. In comparison, Roblox currently takes 70% of the revenue from sales made in the virtual currency, Robux.
• Rockstar Games recently reached out to the band Heaven 17 with an offer to include the song "Temptation" in the soundtrack of GTA VI. This was shared on X by the group's co-founder Martyn Ware. As noted by the musician, he was initially excited to receive a letter from the studio, but his enthusiasm waned after reading the contract thoroughly. Rockstar Games was only willing to pay $7,500 for the song as a one-time fee without any royalties from the sales of GTA VI. Ware recalled the vast revenues from previous games in the series, deemed the amount offered to Heaven 17 as insultingly low, and rejected the offer. In Ware's opinion, reasonable terms would either be a one-time payment of $75,000 or fair royalties.
• Larian Studios recently released the seventh major patch for Baldur's Gate 3, which, among other things, added official support for modifications and a special manager to work with them. The new feature proved to be in high demand. According to Swen Vincke, the head of the studio, more than a million mods were downloaded in the first 24 hours after the patch was released. Vincke did not specify which mods were the most popular.
• The Public Investment Fund (PIF, the Sovereign Fund of Saudi Arabia) decided to transfer all its shares in gaming companies to its subsidiary, Savvy Games Group. The transfer is expected to occur in 2025. As explained by the fund, it aims to go beyond investments and start more actively collaborating with developers. Currently, PIF holds stakes in companies such as Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Activision Blizzard, Nintendo, Capcom, Nexon, Koei Tecmo, and NCSOFT.