Roblox is one of the world’s most popular online platforms for kids, offering a variety of “experiences” including games and virtual spaces. Most experiences are free, but offer upgrades, bonuses and random items in exchange for cash.
What do the kids do with that? in New researchinterviewed 22 children, ages 7 to 14 (and their parents) from November 2023 to July 2024. Of the 22 people, 18 played Roblox.
In the interview, they gave their children a $20 debit card to help them understand their spending decisions. Four children purchased non-digital items with debit cards (bicycle parts, toys, rolly, etc.), while 12 children purchased them at Roblox.
We found that children are highly valued their Roblox purchases, but are dissatisfied with the complex transactions and describe the random reward system as “child gambling,” and talk about “scam” and “cash grabs.”
What is Roblox?
Roblox created in 2006 The bill itself As the ultimate virtual universe where you can create, share experiences with friends and become something you can imagine.” There is 380 million monthly active users Worldwide.
Approximately 42% of Roblox players are under the age of 13. In 2024, a survey conducted by Australian athletes aged 4-18, spending averages. 137 minutes a day.
Roblox It’s been on fire in recent years Particularly for the spread of grooming and child abuse on platforms. in spite of Parent controlmany still feel that it’s not enough to protect their children.
Many Roblox’s USD 3.6 billion revenue in 2024 It was generated through in-game microtransactions, particularly through purchases of cryptocurrency Robux.
You can play freely – but you can pay a lot
Roblox/Hardwick & Carter
You can play Roblox freely. But Roblox and the creators of Roblox (the people who make up the “experience” of the platform) make money in-game.
Roblox Experience allows players to purchase all kinds of things. Cosmetic items change the appearance of your player avatar, functional items used in the game, and the path that provides access to the game and VIP experience.
Some Roblox games offer random reward mechanisms such as loot boxes that provide players with opportunity-based results and prizes (sometimes via financial purchases).
That’s what the loot box was like Prohibited for users under the age of 15 However, in Australia in 2024, we found that many of Roblox’s most popular games still have a random reward mechanism for sale to accounts under the age of 15.
In response to questions from the conversation, a Roblox spokesman wrote:
As a user-generated content platform, it provides the developer community with tools, information, and guidelines that apply to aspects of gameplay within games and experiences. Take action on reports that developers do not follow guidelines or use the tool properly to meet local compliance requirements.
Concerns about digital games spending in children often focus on the idea of engaging in random reward mechanisms It could lead to problematic gambling later.
While this continues to be the subject of ongoing research, our research shows that Roblox’s spending function is already hurting children. Children already feel misunderstood or deceived.
Random rewards and “child gambling”
Many of Roblox’s most popular games are Adopt Me! Includes random reward features such as Blox Fruits, Pet Simulator 99. Players can purchase random rare items and use or exchange these items with other players.
Roblox/Hardwick & Carter
One child in our study explained that playing these games was “literally just a child’s gambling.”
Random reward mechanics confuse children who do not strongly understand statistics and risks. This sparked a family conflict that we talked about when our children were disappointed or upset that they were not receiving “good” rewards.
Our research resonates Previous work identification It harms children From a monetized random reward system.
“Scary” virtual currency
Roblox also uses cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies must be purchased using “real” currency. For example, $8.49 or $5.00 will buy 400 Robacs to spend on the game.
Some popular Roblox games have their own cryptocurrency. The player must first convert real world money to Robux, then convert Robux to “diamond” or “jewel” game currency.
Roblox/Hardwick & Carter
Some kids we spoke to had a sophisticated way of handling these transformations – Online Robux calculator Or mental mathematics. But the other kids struggled.
The 11-year-old explained that she navigated nested cryptocurrencies as “scary.” When asked how much Robooks cost in Australian dollars, the 13-year-old said, “I can’t even start to grasp that.”
Cryptocurrency makes it difficult for kids to identify the true price of items they want to buy in digital games. This leads to children spending more than they notice in the game – Something related to them.
Children called many of these in-game spending features and consequences “scam”, “tricks” and “cache grabs.” These features ultimately hurt children as children value in-game purchases and parents use in-game spending to teach value about saving and spending money responsibly.
Current protection alone is not enough
Digital games show benefits for children’s education, social life and identity development. Children too I cherish the items I buy With digital games. However, efforts to make money from games aimed at children can have a huge financial and emotional impact.
Our study does not suggest that the monetization characteristics need to be banned from children’s games. However, our findings suggest that a child’s digital safety policy should seek to minimize harm to children as a result of digital spending.
In particular, we conclude that monetized random reward mechanisms and cryptocurrencies are not appropriate in children’s games.
It is in other countries I had a hard time effectively restricting loot boxes. Current laws such as Australia’s reclassification banning loot boxes for players under the age of 15 are not compatible with their purpose. Roblox is currently rated 12+ on the PG and Apple App Store on the Google Play Store despite many of the most popular games that include paid opportunity-based content.
Also, in our interviews, we find that parents feel they are navigating the complexities of these games and are very concerned about how their children are monetized.
The Australian eSafety Commissioner said the road to child safety online is “Designed safety”. This approach requires digital service providers to design user safety as their top priority.
Conversations with kids have shown that this is not the case now, but it can be a good starting point.
