What’s Roblox? Is it that thing the Garda have put up to stop me driving from Kildare to Dublin?
No, Roblox is an online video game platform and thus slightly more fun than a roadblock. And, as the lockdown stretches on and on, its popularity is booming, with the number of active players worldwide increasing 35 per cent in July to 164 million (compared with Fortnite’s user-base of 350 million and Minecraft’s 126 million).
That’s a lot of people.
It is. But then Roblox has a lot of content. It is a gaming portal with millions of user-generated games. You download the application to your computer, tablet or smartphone and then decide which micro-game to play.
What kinds of games?
All are variations on a theme, with your pixellated avatar wandering a landscape with the “camera” hovering just behind. For comparison, think Minecraft in third-person mode. The games are wildly varied – no surprise considering they are generated by players. There are “jail breaks”, in which you attempt to escape prison, adventures where you climb mountains and a restaurant simulation in which you prepare and serve pixel pizzas. There is even a scale replica of Dublin, though the creator forgot to put in Liberty Hall (probably for the best).
How do I use it?
It’s incredibly simple, even if you are computer illiterate. You log onto the Roblox website, pick a name for your “avatar” and then download the application. Within about five minutes you can choose from millions of games.
Okay, but I have Candy Crush and Angry Birds. Why do I need another game?
The social aspect of Roblox is a massive part of its appeal for the preteens making up the majority of its user base (25 per cent of Americans aged nine to 12 have Roblox accounts). A little chat box follows your avatar around so that you can interact with other players. Kids enjoy teaming up for “egg hunts” or deciphering puzzles together.
With so many families cooped up and young people denied normal socialising opportunities the appeal is obvious. Which is why, having been established in 2006, Roblox is currently booming.
“At a time like this, where people are housebound, being able to escape into the digital world and have these kinds of fun, imaginative experiences with a friend, is very, very relevant,” Craig Donato, Roblox’s chief business officer, told the New York Times recently.
It sounds expensive.
Roblox can be as cheap or costly as you like. The basic game is free to download. However, you have the option of using real money to acquire the in-game currency of “Robux”, which can be spent blinging out your character with costumes, weapons, balloons – the sky is the limit (figuratively and also literally if you do buy that balloon). There is also a €4.99 “premium” monthly membership tier, which gives you a stipend of Robux and a discount on further purchases.
What’s this I keep hearing about Roblox millionaires?
Users create 20 million new Roblox titles a year and receive a cut of revenue generated in their game. That can add up to quite a lot. Jailbreak, created in 2017 by then 18-year-old Alex Balfanz from Florida, has been played four billion times, bringing in millions of dollars annually. Balfanz told the New York Times that he used the cash to clear his college debts and buy a Tesla.
Millions of kids playing an online game with hidden identities – what could possibly go wrong?
There have been reports of neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups trying to recruit children on Roblox. And of hackers smuggling sexually explicit content into games. There was even a “virtual sexual assault” in 2018 in which a seven-year-old player’s avatar was attacked by two male avatars hacked to show explicit imagery. But Roblox says it robustly screens inappropriate content. Algorithms prevent swear words and names and addresses from appearing in text boxes and there is a reporting system for inappropriate chat.
“We really do start with safety as our No 1 priority. We acknowledge that we have younger players, so you have to be as ahead of the game as possible in terms of safety,” Laura Higgins, Roblox’s “director of digital civility”, told the Guardian in 2019.
“It’s an age-old thing: if people have bad intentions towards children, they’re going to gravitate towards where the children are. We’re constantly reviewing the tools that we have, and looking at ways to improve them.”
