• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

Roblox has forged partnerships with Netflix, Lionsgate, Sega, and Kodansha -- a major Japanese publisher -- in order to allow companies and creators to develop new immersive experiences based on leading franchises, including “Stranger Things,” “Squid Game,” “Twilight,” “Divergent,” “Now You See Me,” “Saw,” “Like A Dragon,” and more.

The virtual gaming company says that it decided to sign deals with these leading publishers to help accomplish its goal of having 10% of all global gaming content revenue flow through the Roblox ecosystem.

The company says it needs “a diverse group of creators building a broad range of experiences on Roblox across gaming, entertainment, and more” to hit 10%, and is launching its own License Manager with the companies listed above, as it aims to simply “how IP owners manage and license their IP at scale so that creators can use that IP” on the platform.

“Simplifying” the licensing process on Roblox involves doing away with stakeholder negotiations and rights holders’ struggle to seek creators interested in turning IP into an in-game experience.

“The nature of the process meant that only a select group of larger studios were able to benefit,” Roblox says, adding that its new Licensing Manager and Licenses catalog aims to create new opportunities for all rights holders and creators that partner together.

Roblox's suite of self-serve IP management tools are designed to cut a months-long process down to “just days or hours” by allowing publishers and brands to register and create IP licenses, customize the IP use terms, scan Roblox experiences for IP usage, offer licensed uses directly to creators, and automatically collect revenue share.

Publishers and brands will also be able to vet potential creators, while listing their IP in a creator-friendly catalog.

Along with the seven previously mentioned IPs, Roblox says two more will follow in the coming weeks, with additional IPs being added later this year.