The Dark Side of Roblox and Corporate Greed

Written for an assignment for People & Games class at Media Design School by Callan Hansen

29/07/2024


Introduction

Roblox was once built on connection, passion, and experimentation. Creators shared personal projects, formed meaningful relationships, and participated in a close-knit, interconnected community. That identity has heavily changed over the years, influenced by CEO David Baszucki’s leadership, which has increasingly prioritized profitability over the creative and social foundations which once defined the platform. Roblox now pushes polished, marketable experiences, and sells ego-driven fantasies of fame, power, recognition, and success to its youngest users. Cecilia D’Anastasio’s article shows us how Roblox exploits the very group it claims to empower. The platform pulls children into a manipulative environment and economy, discourages connection and genuine collaboration, increases emotional and social pressure, and normalizes unpaid labour under the illusion of opportunity.

Roblox traps kids into a manipulative environment and Economy

Roblox’s economy is set up in a way that benefits Roblox far more than the kids who build its content. Parkin (2022) shares that young developers often earn only a tiny fraction of the revenue generated by their creations, and many are financially exploited or threatened with dismissal. Some children, like Anna, were never given formal contracts or guidance, leaving them completely dependent on the decisions of older team members who controlled the game’s earnings. When their pay was reduced or changed, these young developers had no way to challenge it, showing that the platform cares more about profit than protecting its creators. D’Anastasio explains how kids are drawn in with dreams of becoming rich and successful through game development, but the reality is far from that. To be able to withdraw actual money, developers must first earn thirty thousand Robux. Buying that much through the Roblox store would cost over five hundred New Zealand dollars. But when you exchange it through DevEx, Roblox only gives you one hundred and five US dollars back, which is around one hundred and seventy-nine New Zealand dollars. That is a massive gap between what the platform charges vs what it pays. Roblox takes a large cut of developer earnings, keeping over 70% of profits from in-game currency transactions while creators receive less than 30%, which is harmful to young developers unaware of these low returns (MovieGuide Contributor, 2024). Roblox’s removal of Tix, its former free currency, took away one of the few ways that encouraged casual creativity and community participation. The platform’s current algorithm only promotes the most polished and marketable games, making it harder for smaller creators to get noticed and causing lots of unfair competition. This sort of control divides the community and removes the sense of sharing and support that once made Roblox feel special. On top of that, developers need to be paying for Roblox Premium just to be eligible for withdrawal. This system intentionally manipulates the economy and people to keep money inside Roblox, rather than fairly rewarding the creators who make its content possible in the first place.

Roblox discourages connection and genuine collaboration

The manipulation goes far deeper than just the economy. Roblox, by design, pushes kids toward competing for attention and rewards, discouraging genuine connections and turning what could be a creative community into a marketplace driven by ego and status (Logsdon & Lane, 2023). This system isolates children who struggle to gain attention, discouraging meaningful collaboration and makes the environment stressful and competitive. (Brooks & Otte, 2025). Roblox’s CEO has even warned parents that if they are uncomfortable, they should keep their children offline. (Williams, 2025). The platform’s algorithm heavily favors games with lots of players and long session times, which gives polished, popular games more visibility, while the smaller, collaborative projects struggle to be seen (Nair, 2025). This creates a system where kids are incentivized to chase attention and rewards rather than genuinely collaborate or experiment creatively. In many ways, this manipulative system works just like social media platforms such as TikTok or Instagram, where the algorithm prioritizes content that drives engagement, pushing away smaller creators or genuine interactions.

Increased Negative Emotional and Social Pressure for Kids

Teens play Roblox for many positive reasons, such as relaxation, community building, identity formation and creative self-expression. However, Roblox also exposes them to negative experiences such as harassment and cyberbullying (Jed Foundation, 2024). Brooks and Otte (2025) reports that children as young as five were able to communicate with adults while playing games on the platform, and some encountered highly sexualized environments. Otte (2025) reports that many parents have witnessed their children becoming severely addicted to Roblox, showing signs of rage, isolation, and panic attacks when taken off the platform. There was one disturbing case which involved a 10 year old boy who was approached by an adult on Roblox and manipulated into bypassing internet security controls. The man then convinced the child to send nude images of himself and send them through Google Mini. This sort of situation shows us how vulnerable and disconnected many children are online, and what happens when these unhealthy environments are left unsupervised. It shows just how badly Roblox’s system is failing to protect kids, giving predators the chance to take advantage of children who are already feeling lonely or unsupervised. This is what happens when a platform prioritizes engagement over safety (Otte, 2025). This isn’t just one isolated incident either, it points to a much larger issue in our culture, where kids are handed complete control without the emotional support or guidance they need to handle it (Hansen, 2025).

Roblox culture has changed from community to corporate product

Roblox has changed from a community-driven platform where connection and creativity mattered, into a corporate-driven product. The passion projects and personal experiences made by early users have been pushed aside in favor of polished, marketable games that focus on making profit and keeping players hooked. This corporate change has pushed original creators to the side and replaced the close community with a divisive, ego-driven environment that cares more about status and money than genuine connection. This focus on profit and polished experiences also comes with safety and social risks for kids since the platform exposes them to scams, predators, and toxic interactions, showing that players well- being and community is no longer the main priority (Pratt, 2025).

Conclusion

Roblox isn’t the creative, community-driven platform it used to be. It’s become a corporate machine that profits off kids and young developers, pushing them into a system that rewards attention, status, and money over meaningful connections. Genuine collaboration is discouraged, and the pressure it puts on kids can lead to stress, loneliness, and disconnection. The culture that was once meaningful is now gone, replaced by ego, competition, and exploitation. This is how corporations take over platforms once meant for creativity and growth, profiting from and controlling vulnerable users. Roblox is the consequence of prioritizing profit over connection and letting corporations decide what matters.

Reference List