Imagine you are playing a racing game and you are AI generating the car you will use. Or a sandbox battle where you are making all your machines and weapons on the fly. Centipede tank with four turrets? Flying bat drone? Roblox is folding its new CubePart AI model into its platform and game developer tools, and it is going to mean kids and other players generating things in games that actually do stuff with moving parts. CubePart AI is an open source AI model that Roblox has just published research on and will be introducing to its platform. It is an extension of 3D AI generated objects that Roblox introduced last year. This time, objects can have actual working parts that fit the physics of the game they are in.

What Is CubePart AI

AI models for creating multipart objects already exist, but Roblox argues that its model is better. It promises training on more objects than other models, with 2 million parts and a half million overall assets, and being able to label parts of objects using AI faster. The result could be actual functioning things that can work in games using existing game engines.

The model creating AI will work in Roblox Studio for developers, but also be accessible for players in games that support it. The dream is that any two person studio is able to create a massive complex game. Taking it further, why not have more and more players become creators, even without having to open a full scale studio product.

Weird Examples Of What Can Be Made

The research paper shows some strange examples of what could be created. These include a floating surveillance unit housed inside a human skull, with cameras, moving vertebrae, and a sensor halo. Another example is a long range weapon carved from a living elder tree, with enchanted berry ammo and a vine sight.

This will not be isolated to some sandbox that is off to the side somewhere. It is something you will be able to bring directly into your in game activity. The trick that has been discovered is that unless you integrate it into very interesting gameplay, after a while it becomes a little bit boring. You are generating an object, but then you need all this other gameplay stuff around it.

Limits Of AI Generated Creations

The moving creations cannot be endless. Natural fail points will dictate limits to keep things from getting too big. They also cannot distort and move quite like living creatures yet, so it is intended more for machines, suits, and vehicles than aliens and companions. However, golem like robots are possible.

The creation of any object will be moderated the same way that AI generated content was handled previously. Freeform AI generation will be contained to games that developers choose to include the new model in. It is not just a power you can summon anytime.

Roblox Reality And Game Cartridges

The new CubePart AI capabilities are yet another step toward increasingly realistic and spontaneously generated shared worlds. Roblox Reality, coming later this year or in early 2027, aims to make games that run at 2K resolution and 60 frames per second using AI. This service will apparently have some subscription tied to it.

There is also an even weirder initiative called Game Cartridges that is aiming to explore collaborative experiences in AI generated worlds. Right now, generative AI is mostly a solo thing, not collaborative. It is still hard to get generative AI to make changes to something that has already been made.

AI is not good enough yet to make world models that can stay stable enough for multiplayer collaboration or play. But the playable demos in Roblox’s World Research Station show a sign of what is coming. It is similar to what other major tech companies are aiming for with their 3D world building generative AI.

The Future Of AI Generated Worlds

The idea of generated worlds and creations on the fly gives metaverse echoes. For a company like Roblox that has essentially been a metaverse of its own, it makes you wonder when things like this could come to VR headsets or even augmented reality glasses.

World models are invariably single player. But what if everyone could be in the same world and, when you change the world state, someone else would be able to see it. That multiplayer collaboration is what will make world models interesting.

CubePart is just one piece in a moving Roblox AI puzzle. Roblox is not the only company pushing toward generative worlds. Instead, think of Roblox as a canary in the gaming industry mines. It is where a lot of studios could very well be heading.

Pros And Cons

Pros

• Players can generate functional machines, vehicles, and weapons with moving parts in real time
• Trained on 2 million parts and 500,000 assets, more than competing models
• Open source AI model available for researchers and developers
• Two person studios can create complex games without massive budgets
• Potential to turn more players into creators without learning complex tools
• Examples include creative possibilities like surveillance skulls and elder tree weapons
• Will work within existing game engines and physics systems

Cons

• AI generated creations cannot move like living creatures, limited to machines and vehicles
• Natural fail points limit how large or complex creations can be
• Freeform generation only available in games that developers choose to enable it
• AI costs may require subscriptions in the future
• Roblox Reality service will have subscription costs for 2K 60fps gaming
• Multiplayer collaborative world generation is not yet possible
• Some players may not want AI generated content in their games