Roblox

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Roblox

Basic information
Founded	2004
Legal structure	Company
Industry	Gaming
Official website	https://roblox.com/

Roblox is an online platform which lets users create their own games, as well as all sorts of virtual items for their personal avatars. The platform is owned by the Roblox Corporation.

Users create games through Roblox Studio, an application separate from the Roblox Player. Roblox Studio can be used by a user to create digital backups of the games they create. These backups are stored on their hard drive and can not be meaningfully altered by the Roblox Corporation.

Consumer impact summary

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• User freedom: Documented in section 11 of the Roblox Terms of Use,^{[citation needed]} the user agrees to resolve disputes through Mandatory Informal Dispute Resolution (MIDR). If MIDR does not resolve a dispute, users within the United States are forced to proceed under binding arbitration. In order to initiate MIDR, users are required to send a physically-written notice by certified mail or through Federal Express.
• User privacy: All Roblox-related operations must, to some extent, occur on Roblox-owned servers (for example: it is near impossible to play a Roblox game without interacting with the Roblox servers). Roblox servers are not end to end encrypted[citation needed], allowing possible vulnerabilities. Roblox explicitly states that they monitor all user activity to see if it complies with their rules.
• Business model: Profits off of an exclusive currency purchased with real-world currency called Robux, often used an an intermediary for microtransactions on the platform for user-generated content (UGC) such as cosmetics. Known to also make money off of collaborations that function as advertisements, such as with Ikea.
• Market competition: Various platforms such as Epic Games' Fortnite have been known to emulate how Roblox works. Very few however, are successful in competing against them.
• Other information: The Roblox Corporation can terminate (delete) a user's account as long as they believe they are violating the Terms of Use. Termination can not be revoked. A terminated user will lose every single thing they own on Roblox along with their account, including what they purchased with Robux, Roblox's premium currency.

Monetization

Roblox is a free game which features in-game purchases made through the premium currency of Robux. Things on Roblox which can be purchased with Robux include new accessories, exclusive content in certain games, and even the ability to access certain games. All items purchased on Roblox are stored on Roblox servers alone, meaning that Roblox has the ability to modify or even delete the items you own.

Incidents

Accusations of child labor

In January 2022, The Guardian ran a story accusing Roblox of profiting off child labor, detailing stories of teenagers being scammed and becoming victims of sexual grooming in communities conveniently off the platform. In October 2022, the first of many lawsuits alleging Roblox enabled a girl's sexual exploitation was filed.

Blocking Linux users

In April 2023, Roblox intentionally blocked Linux users playing the game via Wine, a tool used for running Windows apps on POSIX-compliant operating systems. Despite Roblox's attempts to prevent Linux users from playing, there are still ways to play on Linux without use of an emulator.

Problematic moderation

Main article: Roblox's problematic moderation

Roblox as a platform has been well-known by consumers to moderate content excessively poorly. The platform's chat moderation feature has been frequently known to egregiously censor speech, most notably numbers.

In recent years, the moderation has been documented to neglect handling child predators, only handling the most egregious of actors after massive consumer backlash or lawsuits, and in many cases, these individuals tend to have their bans reversed. Additionally, the platform has been documented to host various mature experiences, which have been recorded to be used as breeding grounds for predatory behavior. This neglect has gone so far as to the platform threatening litigation against individuals attempting to get child predators reported to authorities.

According to Ruben Sim, the Roblox report system (which allows users to 'report' rule-violating behavior to Roblox moderators) often had a success rate of 0%, even when obviously rule-violating accounts possessing usernames which were distorted versions of minor-sexualizing phrases such as "14 year old slut".

Condo Games

"Condo" games on Roblox are a type of game which simulates sex between Roblox avatars. According to the policies on Romantic and Sexual Content, "Any content which explicitly [depicts] sexual content or nudity is against the rules of Roblox". Due to the rule-violating nature of these games and how they can harm the fanbase of Roblox, due to the fanbase of Roblox being overwhelmingly composed of young children[citation needed], they are often removed by Roblox moderation.

However, due to the potentially backup-creating nature of Roblox Studio, creators of these Condo games can endlessly republish these offending games under alternate accounts as long as they keep the backup file. While Roblox is considering the creation of "Restricted" experiences which may allow these heavier sexual themes[citation needed], Condo games almost never mark themselves as restricted, allowing underage users to potentially access them.