Roblox faces criticism for 'exploiting' young game developers

Post by rdtwo » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 7:11 PM UTC

djrogers wrote: post #26

Upon further reflection, I think I've figured out why my kids and I don't see this as exploitative - they're not trying to get rich or famous. I'm not trying to be mean to anyone, but if you look at all of the complaints through the filter of someone who wants to a) learn to make a video game, b) learn some programming, and c) make a cool game to share with his friends, then Roblox is a really fun, free, and easy way…

Post by PoignardAzur » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 7:13 PM UTC

tyleo wrote: post #120

rtkwe wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roblox takes their 75% cut out of each sale then if you ever manage to accumulate the 100,000 Robux needed to cash out ($1000 worth for what Roblox sells it for) you only get $350. They're double dipping their cut. You should really watch the video it lays out the case very well. If it's meant to be educational it shouldn't be marketing itself as a way to make money or charging kids to promote their app. It would hav…

I’ll have to watch the video. It looks like there is some missing context in the article alone. Still not sure how I feel. On the fence but leaning more good than bad. The thing I cant get past is “what else would a kid do with their time?” Even if its not a great way to make money, it seems like a better use of time than what I did. It just seems like it still provides a strong learning opportunity. I think there ma…

Post by peoplefromibiza » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 7:16 PM UTC

only_as_i_fall wrote: post #14

>Second, there’s the matter of how extensively Robux (Roblox’s in-app currency) are used to navigate the creator economy. Roblox creators are paid first by receiving a cut of Robux that comes from the sale, which they can use to purchase other Roblox experiences, in-game assets, cosmetics, etc. That means once a developer enters the Robux economy, their money is all spent inside the Roblox system until they’re able t…

Post by PoignardAzur » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 7:18 PM UTC

andyfleming wrote: post #90

sillysaurusx wrote: post #81

See Carmack's rebuttal: https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1428483898896535562 > I have been impressed by the number of real world economic and business issues that Roblox is exposing my younger son to, both in the experiences and the larger ecosystem. There is a lot of thinking in terms of effort, reward, and risk. "You seem to be ignoring the thesis of the video. For the vast majority of their creators, their…

> thinks Roblox is fine I don't think he's claiming it's not exploitative behavior, but rather values the experience for the real world lessons.

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 20, 2021, 7:19 PM UTC

testudovictoria wrote: post #118

rtkwe wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roblox takes their 75% cut out of each sale then if you ever manage to accumulate the 100,000 Robux needed to cash out ($1000 worth for what Roblox sells it for) you only get $350. They're double dipping their cut. You should really watch the video it lays out the case very well. If it's meant to be educational it shouldn't be marketing itself as a way to make money or charging kids to promote their app. It would hav…

To combine the numbers: Roblox takes 75% of each sale. This means the developer needs to make 400,000 in Robux sales before the developer accumulates 100,000 Robux for cash withdrawal. If 100,000 Robux is sold for $1,000, and 100,000 Robux only nets the developer $350, then the double dip gives Roblox a net 91.25% of developer sales. This excludes any applicable taxes or app store fees.