Gamescom Had No Room for UGC. We Built One.
- 48 minutes ago
- 5 min read
At Gamescom I organized the Max Power Gaming x Gameforge UGC Mixer. One hundred and fifty people gathered in a Roman vault under a massive Cologne brewery: Roblox developers, UEFN creators, Minecraft studios, brands, agencies, investors, and platform executives.
There were UGC platforms like Fortnite exhibiting at Gamescom, but there was no room built for the UGC industry to meet itself. So we built one. Here's who came, what we discussed, and what it means for the ecosystem.
Who Showed Up
Gamescom is the biggest video game event in the world, and these industry conferences are not really geared toward UGC companies. But studios with impressive Roblox games, including Twin Atlas, Melo Games, and our sponsor Wonder Works, were all in the room.
The service layer travels now too. GameBeast, the analytics company, was there. So were agencies, tooling companies, and law firms that work specifically in this space. Infrastructure does not travel for a hobby. It travels when there are enough businesses with enough revenue to justify the flight.
Tencent, Nexon, Gameloft, and Unity were all represented. These are traditional gaming companies with their own franchises, their own engines, and their own distribution, and they came to a UGC room to meet developers building on somebody else's platform.
Talent is moving in. I spoke with developers who came out of mobile and have stood up small teams iterating on Roblox. They are taking their skill set and applying it to Roblox. The biggest example is Gameforge, our title sponsor and co-host, a traditional gaming company that has leaned into Roblox and is seeing the opportunity. They are behind Gym Star Simulator, and they have grown their Roblox team size and output over the past couple of years.
Roblox employees were there too, meeting people and building relationships. Special shout out to Duncan Campbell, friend of Max Power Gaming who has been super supportive of my son building on the platform.
The room was international. I talked with people from the US, Italy, the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Malta, Australia, Korea, and China, and that was only the ones I got to. There is serious work happening to get top UGC studios more exposure in Asia, in markets most Western developers are not thinking about yet.
What Brands Say They Cannot Find
A major IP holder told me they like how Roblox works for marketing, boosting product sales, and engagement. What is hard is making branded Roblox games that become popular and drive revenue. Having games that are actually able to monetize is challenging, the expectations internally are big, and they know they are not there yet. The question came up of whether Roblox might change its revenue share for IP partners. The answer is probably not, because the company is looking to boost revenue right now, not decrease it.
Who Is Investing In The Space
I also spent time with investors looking to deploy capital in the Roblox space. Not into the top tier of studios, but into the tier below it. And instead of taking equity, some of them are looking at debt financing, which is interesting. To lend against a business you have to believe its revenue is predictable enough to service a loan. You do not underwrite a hobby. A lot of this money is coming from people whose background is in the creator economy, who have watched this pattern play out before and want in on it here. A market only gets that kind of financing once its middle is real.
Separately, I heard about an AI company working in this space raising millions to expand. There is certainly money coming into the space, or looking to get into the space, and figuring out how to connect with creators.
Current Sentiment on Roblox
Nobody in that room was in denial that Roblox is down from last year's incredible peak. Growth has slowed, the algorithm has been adjusted, and discovery has gotten harder.
One product leader from another gaming platform put it this way: it seems like Roblox is taking a short term hit in terms of growth to set itself up for long term success. I agree with that. Age-based accounts, publishing rules, reworked discovery, new monetization. That is a platform trading openness for durability. It raises the operational floor, and it hurts in the near term.
One studio gave me a useful answer on discovery. I asked whether the algorithm changes had impacted them. Not really, they said, because they have a lot of search traffic and repeat players who come to the game directly. Build a brand and a community and you are less exposed to a ranking change. Depend entirely on the algorithm, and you open yourself up to bigger downswings.
The Importance Of Bringing the UGC Community Together
An established business development professional told me she usually knows people at these industry parties from years working in the space. However, this room was mostly strangers to her.
I am sure a lot of people felt that way. But I see that as a good thing. Creating rooms like this starts to erase that unfamiliarity and starts to build connections. Those connections are how trust is built and the ecosystem matures.
Someone from a traditional gaming company came up to me looking for professional Roblox developers whose portfolios they could help sell to their brand clients. They were thrilled to meet the Gameforge team, who are interested in working with more brands. Win win intro. Two sides of the same problem, standing ten feet apart, who would not have met otherwise.
What I Took Away
Talent is moving in, capital is moving in, traditional companies are moving in, and the studios that will define the next few years are already professional operations that show up, spend, and travel. They are showing up whether or not the traditional gaming industry makes room for them.
Special Thanks
Huge thanks to Gameforge for co-hosting and making this possible. A traditional gaming team that has really leaned into Roblox, sees the opportunity, and is helping grow the space. Thank you also to Wonder Works, who I have now partnered with at both RDC and Gamescom, and to Accord.
I got into all of this in more depth with Peter and Steffan from Gameforge in a LinkedIn Live we recorded after the event. Watch it here.
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Stephen Dypiangco is one the world’s leading experts on the topic of Roblox and brands. He has advised global companies on their Roblox strategies, including BBC Studios, Paramount, and Takara Tomy.
With 120+ articles published about Roblox and a following of over 14,000 across LinkedIn and his industry leading Max Power Gaming newsletter, he is widely regarded by gaming industry executives and investors as a trusted resource.
Stephen is building the premiere network of Roblox professionals to help this emerging sector connect and scale through his unique blend of relevant content and community events.
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