Add an integrated marketplace to Maya where users can buy, sell or share tools, scripts, Bifrost compounds, assets, materials, render engines, etc.
At the moment, Autodesk does not incentivize developers for Maya. Many of them lack visibility and have to promote themselves independently because there is no effective and well-integrated platform available.
In today's world, I think an integrated marketplace is essential for a modern business model (as seen with Unity). While the Maya development team is talented and productive, it's clear they cannot keep up with all the different needs of users, which are too diverse. Without community development, it's challenging to compete with Blender and Maxon. Blender is growing much faster, and Maxon (like Adobe) has adopted a subscription policy with a highly competitive software portfolio.
There are many talented Maya developers out there, but I often discover them accidentally, and there are often no reviews or ratings of their work from other users.
For example, I would like to have a render queue with a user-friendly interface (similar to C4D) that integrates with the camera sequencer. I know Autodesk will never develop this, but perhaps an external developer has, and I would be happy to buy it.
Another example is the Sweep Mesh tool, which is very useful, but it arrived at least 10 years too late. Perhaps I could have found and purchased it much earlier on a "MayaStore."
An integrated marketplace would also have the advantage that external developers continue to improve their products, while the Maya team often abandons tools after a few years without further updates or improvements.
Finally, Bifrost is a fantastic development laboratory, but without a place to share, buy, and sell, it's a huge waste of potential.
In my opinion, this would be a win-win-win situation: Autodesk would take a fee, developers would reach more users, and users would have more choice. You could also share the marketplace with 3dsMax and other Autodesk software.
I know Autodesk AREA exists, but I must admit that it falls short in terms of its content and user base, making it ineffective.
P.S. Another issue is the Maya YouTube channel compared to C4D, Blender, and even more complex software like Houdini, but that's another topic.
