Report says Roblox exploits young game developers, many of them children, including by making it difficult to withdraw money earned through microtransactions
which at 200 million users is the most popular game in the US—is essentially running a scheme to exploit child game developers, is completely eye-opening. They're using company scrip, taking a *75%* cut, and more. https://www.youtube.com/... Boing Boing / @boingboing : Roblox is a $45bn platform built largely by children working for scrip https://www.youtube.com/... https://boingboing.net/... Andrew Nestico / @practicaltas : My jaw dropped at “Roblox takes a roughly 83% cut of money made on the platform” before hitting the floor at “but that's our best estimate because the number they give isn't accurate” and falling through at “because they pay devs in in-game currency with an awful exchange rate” https://twitter.com/... Nordic Weasel Games / @weaselnordic : A good view into how a particular “content” platform treat the people creating their content like complete garbage. Oh, and it's also literal child labor I think. https://www.youtube.com/...
WiredCecilia D'Anastasio
Context & Ripple Effects
Roblox’s player-built model was previously presented as a growth engine: its expanding audience helped a large developer community, and the company said hundreds of creators earned substantial income ahead of its IPO. The later coverage also identifies stress, burnout and exploitation risks in its effort to get children making games.
This report challenges the economics beneath that model, alleging that young creators face a large platform cut, in-game-currency compensation and difficult cash withdrawals. That matters as Robux was becoming a familiar form of payment and allowance for children, tying creator earnings to a currency used throughout the platform.
First-order effects
Young Roblox developers named in the report face less usable compensation than their microtransaction earnings imply if the alleged exchange and withdrawal barriers apply.
Roblox faces scrutiny of its creator-payment rules and platform take rate, rather than only of the games produced by its user-developer ecosystem.
Second-order effects
The allegation puts pressure on Roblox to make creator economics legible to families and developers, especially after its outsourcing model had been associated with developers earning significant sums.
A less trusted payout system can weaken the incentive for young creators to keep building Roblox experiences, affecting the supply of games that supports platform engagement.
Third-order effects
If child-focused creation platforms continue to rely on closed virtual currencies, platform governance will increasingly encompass withdrawal terms and revenue-sharing practices, not just content safety.
The broader model shifts from celebrating user-generated creativity as low-cost development toward evaluating whether creators—particularly minors—have meaningful economic protections.
The trend: Child-oriented creator platforms are facing closer scrutiny over whether virtual-currency economies fairly compensate the users whose work supplies their content.
A new report argues that Roblox's success is built on exploiting young game developers, many of them children, making content for the game. https://www.wired.com/...
A new report claims that the massive video game platform can exploit young developers.On Roblox, Kids Learn It's Hard to Earn Money Making Games https://www.wired.com/...
I started on the platform many years before Developer Exchange existed. I worked on Roblox because it allowed me to essentially express creativity through a new medium. I'm not an artist, but I turned out to be a fine programmer, and I owe that to Roblox. This article is wrong 🙄 …
Nobody is forced to do anything. You have the CHOICE to make any content on the platform. To say they are “forced” or “exploited” to make content FOR the platform is misleading. https://twitter.com/...
Hooooooooooly shit this video is a must-watch. Roblox has fascinated me since I became a dad and suddenly became aware of this MASSIVE business that I had zero exposure to beforehand. https://twitter.com/...
Quite a compelling case that Roblox is paying its child workers in company scrip, which would be, you know, illegal, if it weren't so disruptive https://www.youtube.com/...
Kids are learning some very adult and mature things on this site that is why many have decided to end their children using this child platform adults have encroached on. Kids should just be playing games having fun they should not... https://www.linkedin.com/... https://www.wired…
Roblox: MAKE US CONTENT OR ELSE kid developer: ok bu- ROBLOX: NOW kid developer: *shaking and crying* ROBLOX: There there, that's a good little developer (This is a fake story, and has never happened, and doesn't happen, sound ridiculous right) https://twitter.com/...
1/2) Not at all a surprise to me or industry colleagues, yet, in a creative if (further) warped way, the long-crooked business model offers a happy alternative to certain established publishers and well-known development studios . . . https://www.wired.com/...
Roblox suggests its kid devs can “earn serious cash” through the platform. @Quinns108's investigation shows how, when kids try and fail to make it on Roblox, Roblox profits. Our write-up: https://www.wired.com/...
Just yesterday my son was telling me that making games on Roblox is not lucrative and gave an off the cuff estimate of how many downloads will net how much money and after splitting with his friends - it will be so less for each. https://www.wired.com/...
This @Quinns108 story about how Roblox—which at 200 million users is the most popular game in the US—is essentially running a scheme to exploit child game developers, is completely eye-opening. They're using company scrip, taking a *75%* cut, and more. https://www.youtube.com/...
A good view into how a particular “content” platform treat the people creating their content like complete garbage. Oh, and it's also literal child labor I think. https://www.youtube.com/...
My jaw dropped at “Roblox takes a roughly 83% cut of money made on the platform” before hitting the floor at “but that's our best estimate because the number they give isn't accurate” and falling through at “because they pay devs in in-game currency with an awful exchange rate” h…