Roblox Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Enabling Underage Gambling on Site

By Movieguide® Contributor

Roblox Corp. and its subsidiaries, which run the popular game Roblox, were hit with a class action lawsuit for allowing minors to gamble on the platform.

“Roblox registers each and every exchange of Robux for gambling credits and allows illicit gambling, by minors, using the Roblox website,” the lawsuit says. “All of the gambling transactions require Roblox’s affirmative support to continue. Roblox profits from these transactions to the detriment of its users, including its minor, adolescent and teenage users.”

Rather than function like a typical game, Roblox offers users access to the building blocks to create their own games, which they can upload for others to play. One of the systems native to the site is the transaction of Robux, a virtual currency that can be purchased for real money at an exchange rate of roughly 800 credits per $9.99.

While there are a variety of reasons players may choose to purchase and spend Robux, one of the most common is gambling. Numerous players have set up casinos on the site which illegally cater to minors.

Roblox is currently one of the most popular video games. The site boasts 60 million daily users, 70% of which are younger than 18. According to the company, roughly 75% of Americans between the ages of 9 and 12 visit the site at least once per month. Because of its massive young user base, Roblox has strong policies to protect minors using the site. However, it appears that the company rarely opts to enforce them.

A previous lawsuit over the same concerns explained how the company tracks all purchases made on the site and can certainly flag young users who are engaging in gambling.

“Once the minor-user’s wallet is linked, the gambling website converts the minor user’s Robux into credits that can only be wagered in their virtual casinos,” the lawsuit, filed last December, explained. “Throughout this process, Roblox keeps track of all of these electronic transfers and has knowledge of each transfer that occurs in its ecosystem.”

“The gambling credits function just like chips in a brick and mortar casino,” the newly filed class action lawsuit said, noting that Roblox keeps 30% of the cut, generating millions of dollars for the company annually.

Roblox has faced previous lawsuits and complaints for the exploitation of minors on the site, including for the proliferation of sexual content aimed at minors. Last year, it landed on the NCOSE ‘Dirty Dozen’ list for this reason.

Movieguide® previously reported:

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) recently released its 2023 ‘Dirty Dozen’ list. 

“The Dirty Dozen List is an annual campaign calling out twelve mainstream entities for facilitating or profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation,” the NCOSE explained…

Roblox: 

“Roblox isn’t all fun and games. Among the blocks and buildings, kids may be exposed to predators and inappropriate content.”