We always repeat that Roblox is the most successful video game platform in the world that is most ignored. Something that tends to be interpreted in a positive light for Roblox, which is not necessarily true. Being successful usually comes with quite severe scrutiny, for better or worse, which dissipates when you simply don’t get attention. As has been demonstrated when a closer look is taken at what happens inside.
According to a report by the firm Hindenburg Research, the number of daily players and engagement statistics of Roblox have been inflated since at least 2021. This has been confirmed through interviews with multiple former employees of the company, and its purpose was allegedly to report false information to investors.
With Roblox itself stating nothing more than this is “simply incorrect,” it doesn’t seem like they have much to say about it. But that’s not the worst thing that has come out regarding the platform. Because along with that, it seems that the platform’s moderation is not preventing, or is unable to prevent, the safety of children on their platform.
According to findings by Hidenberg Research, several game experiences based on sexual predators like Jeffrey Epstein or P Diddy, which display sexual or inappropriate images for children, are accessible in the game for people of all ages without any verification. Similarly, in multiple chat rooms, they observed images of children being sexually abused being shared completely publicly. All of this, along with numerous spaces they considered specifically designed to expose minors to pornography, violent content, or even abuse or conditioning to suffer it.
This, together with the number of bots on the platform, leads Hidenberg Research to estimate that the actual number of Roblox users has been inflated by between 25% and 42%, and the hours spent in the game by up to 100%. However, this is the least of their problems considering their lack of control or moderation against all forms of child abuse or its propagation.
In this regard, Roblox has considered their platform to be safe. The reality is that Bloomberg, already in 2023, reported 13,316 cases of child exploitation on Roblox, in addition to two dozen people who have been arrested for abusing minors after contacting them through the game. In 2024, not only does it not seem that the situation has improved, but also, Roblox seems delighted to continue turning a blind eye and deaf ear to what is happening on their platform as long as they keep making money.