A detailed investigation accuses Roblox of exploiting its young developers by falsely promising them that they can earn "serious cash".
The video was made by games journalist Quintin Smith, who alleges that Roblox promises young developers the chance to earn money from their user-created levels, but that it's incredibly unlikely that they'll be able to do so.
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Roblox essentially revolves around user-created levels, and the developers behind those levels can choose to monetize those creations and get paid in Robux. Users can then take those Robux and turn them into real money, with 100,000 Robux being the minimum and working out to around $1000.
However, that minimum withdrawal is a lot of Robux, which the video alleges makes it more likely that users will put the money back into Roblox and essentially minimise the number of players who are actually able to withdraw money. You also can't withdraw money without paying for a monthly Roblox subscription. The video also points out that Roblox buys Robox at a lower rate than it sells them.
Roblox players can also choose to spend Robux on ad time to try and get more players to their level, which means that a lot of players will end up spending any money that they make from the game on trying to advertise their levels. In a game as filled with levels as Roblox, it's incredibly difficult to keep levels relevant without this advertising, encouraging users to spend their money on that. This creates a cycle that means making any money from Roblox is incredibly difficult, which the video details and says is "exploiting" the young developers into creating content.
Eurogamer asked Quintin Smith for comment and he said, "Roblox can't be allowed to continue operating the way they're operating, I don't think, but right now I think the ball's in the court of the games press, not Roblox – what should happen next is journalists breaking out their notepads and flashlights and doing their own investigations of the platform."
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