Hot off the heels of our biggest event yet, we headed to London this past weekend to host the Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) at YouTube Space London! What was once a hub for YouTubers briefly transformed into the ultimate mecca for close to 100 creators from the United Kingdom and beyond. We were also excited to welcome YouTube superstars and fellow Roblox enthusiasts DollasticDreams and MicroGuardian to the conference, who flew across the pond to show their support for the Roblox developer community. We’d like to give everyone a special thanks for attending, as well as our friends at YouTube for allowing us to use their beautiful space in London.
Even if you couldn’t make it to the conference or tune in to the livestream, we’ve got all the coverage you could ask for. Read about the event below, or visit our official YouTube channel to watch the panels, the tournament, highlights from the game jam, and lots more!
Welcome to YouTube Space London
A diverse crowd of developers, builders, and creators alike stormed through the doors of YouTube Space London on Friday to kick off RDC 2017 in the UK. The welcome reception was filled to the brim with tasty hors d’oeuvres, games, music, and tons of sweet, sweet prizes to get everyone hyped for Saturday’s big event. After some inspirational words from Roblox’s Founder and CEO, David “Builderman” Baszucki, attendees mingled with other aspiring creators, while many more were snapping photos together or showing off their moves on the dance floor.
David “Builderman” Baszucki speaking with RDC 2017 attendees via a video conference call
The Conference and the Roblox Tournament
Saturday was jam-packed with a series of informative presentations designed to educate and empower the Roblox developer community. The day featured keynote sessions about the future of Roblox from our VP of Developer Relations, Grace Francisco, our Technical Director zeuxcg, and our Senior Engineering Director ostrichSized. Afterwards, attendees broke off into multiple groups to catch sessions based on everyday development topics, such as marketing, cross-platform optimization, monetization, and more. You can browse through the presentation slides below:
- Developer Relations and You
- Roblox: The Developer’s Platform
- Roblox Game Engine
- Monetization & Retention
- Merchandising & Licensing
- Cross-Platform Optimization
- Accelerator, Incubator, and Intern Programs
- Game Design 101
- Marketing and Social Media 101
- Making Kid-Friendly Games
Then, finally, after weeks of searching high and low for the world’s best Roblox players, we assembled five challengers, including YouTuber and scripter Alvinbloxx, to compete on-stage for the title of Roblox Tournament Champion! Hosted by JParty, DollasticDreams, and MicroGuardian, the tournament featured multiple rounds of intense gaming action in three Roblox games: Volt, Ultimate Boxing, and POLYGUNS. After the dust settled, only one could be crowned the king…
Congratulations to the winners of the RDC 2017 Roblox Tournament!
Second Place: MasterOfTheElements
First Place: ROBLOX_Clothing
RDC Game Jam, Round 2!
The final day of RDC 2017 was dedicated to our annual game jam competition. Participants only had five hours to team up and build an entire game, experience, showcase, or model from scratch based on a top-secret theme. This time, every creation had to be inspired by “magic”!
Thanks to tools like Team Create, developers and builders were able to jam together in real-time. In just a matter of hours, they had already brainstormed, prototyped, and polished some exciting projects we were super excited to play after the presentations concluded. We also thought it was inspiring to see how many new and experienced developers were working together to share advice and build some truly innovative experiences. Regardless of skill level, we hope everyone had an opportunity to add a few new tricks to their repertoire.
After the clock winded down, our panel of judges evaluated each creation based upon four criteria: Execution, Originality, Design, and Fun. Scroll down to see who came out on top!
Building Competition Winners
- Magic, by Lightlimn
- Sorcerer and Sorcerer (Metal Version); music composed by Animula_MusicDev
Game Jam Winners
Honorable Mentions for Polish and Originality:
- The Mystery of Bazooka, by Crazyblox, Younite, Ysko, Simoon68
- Magic Learn, by FierceByte, Neutre, Chichine
Third Place: Broom Broom, by Craftero, Zyleak, Daireb, Webmotion (@WebmotionRBLX)
Second Place: Elemental Baguettes, by Ravenshield, Asleum, Sofloann
First Place: Ice, Wind, & Fire, by MasterOfTheElements, Jjwood1600, Zomebody, Bluay, Arch_Mage
We’ll see you next year!
All in all, both conferences in the United States and the United Kingdom garnered a combined total of over 3,900 tweets about #RDC2017 and more than 372,000 views across all our livestreams! From everyone at Roblox, we would like to thank you all for helping make the 2017 Roblox Developers Conference a massive success. Together, we’re excited to continue building the future of play.
We look forward to seeing everyone again for next year’s conference!