Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings • Hacker News Board

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#31

Post by jjmarr » Sat, May 02, 2026, 6:50 PM UTC

The "child safety measures" was dividing the playerbase into age groups and banning almost all communication between them. The age groups are under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, and 21+. Users only speak to other players ±1 age group, so 18-20 can speak to 16-17 or 21+.

The problem is almost every game on Roblox is social and the matchmaking isn't mature enough to ensure players in a lobby can all communicate.

My favourite is "generic roleplay gaem". The main fun is inciting riots against the leader or forming alliances to do raids. I could join a game and within half-an-hour I'd be engaged in drama, since Roblox incentivizes ephemeral lobbies with random people meaning I don't need a lengthy time commitment to form an alliance.

But I can no longer do that because I am 25 years old and the lobbies are too young. Heck, I'd rather play that game with only other users over 18+ because I could swear and be more toxic. But the matchmaking system literally makes that impossible.

I've had the same Roblox account for 18 years and have spent tens of thousands of Robux on the platform. I let Roblox scan my passport even, so they know who I am. Even though I own nearly 1000 Steam games, Roblox still filled my desire for low-commitment social games I could jump into on my phone or computer if I had a few hours of downtime. Now it is effectively unplayable.

I'm in favour of child safety. But these measures were implemented poorly and needed to be paired with matchmaking to not destroy the platform.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#32

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, May 02, 2026, 6:50 PM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #28

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> interview of their CEO with the NYT Do you have a source from the New York Times ? (EDIT: Nvm.) Second EDIT: the CEO reminds me of the energy vampire from What We Do in the Shadows .

That video is from the New York Times official account.

Oh whoops, didn't recognize the Hard Fork brand. My bad.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#33

Post by hypeatei » Sat, May 02, 2026, 6:52 PM UTC

darth_avocado wrote: post #7

Investors are hilarious. What’s better: more investment in child safety measures so that a company remains a long term product that parents allow their children on, or no safety measures to increase profit so that parents stop letting their kids be on the platform, thereby killing long term viability of the product? Quarterly thinking is the bane of the health of corporate America.

Markets are future discounting machines. A stock price does not reflect the current economic reality, but rather the present-day anticipation of how that company will perform in the future. Adding more friction to user experience and onboarding seems like a legitmate concern for retention and growth. The collective thinks this won't be good for future earnings, and I'd be curious to hear why you think otherwise.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#34

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, May 02, 2026, 6:53 PM UTC

hitekker wrote: post #21

This is the second time in the last month that Hindenburgh's reports appear to be prophetic. Previously, they called out Backblaze before the company began harming its own product.

Hindenberg's 2024 report titled "Roblox: Inflated Key Metrics For Wall Street And A Pedophile Hellscape For Kids": https://hindenburgresearch.com/roblox/

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#35

Post by cityofdelusion » Sat, May 02, 2026, 6:54 PM UTC

intended wrote: post #14

tailscaler2026 wrote: post #2

Funny how the world abruptly decided kids shouldn't have social interactions online right as AI chatbots took off.

It’s abrupt only if you are unaware of safety challenges and issues in children’s gaming in the past decade. Moderating user generated games is a kafkaesque joke. It’s not just text, audio, or video. It’s all of those combined in an interactive environment which can include trigger conditions - and one category of games is escaping from mazes. Since it’s kids, you will end up with maps based on actual schools, combin…

School maps, takes me back, I made them back in the day myself. Fact is kids spend so much time at school and it’s their social life as well. Of course in my day it was made by kids for kids, not by grooming adults.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#36

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 02, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

jjmarr wrote: post #31

The "child safety measures" was dividing the playerbase into age groups and banning almost all communication between them. The age groups are under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, and 21+. Users only speak to other players ±1 age group, so 18-20 can speak to 16-17 or 21+. The problem is almost every game on Roblox is social and the matchmaking isn't mature enough to ensure players in a lobby can all communicate. My fav…

[deleted]

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#37

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, May 02, 2026, 6:56 PM UTC

jjmarr wrote: post #31

The "child safety measures" was dividing the playerbase into age groups and banning almost all communication between them. The age groups are under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, and 21+. Users only speak to other players ±1 age group, so 18-20 can speak to 16-17 or 21+. The problem is almost every game on Roblox is social and the matchmaking isn't mature enough to ensure players in a lobby can all communicate. My fav…

> these measures were implemented poorly and needed to be paired with matchmaking to not destroy the platform

I see these as orthogonal issues.

Your mathmaking gripe sounds legitimate, and is probably driven by Roblox's low 21+ user numbers. That would be expected to change over time. At the same time, I'm not seeing a great argument for why these folks (EDIT: Roblox) should continue to have unfettered access to kids under 14.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#38

Post by bastard_op » Sat, May 02, 2026, 6:56 PM UTC

Roblox has long been known as a pedo farm, and talks with friends actually with kids all know it, so I don't know how it's still even around.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#39

Post by tailscaler2026 » Sat, May 02, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #37

jjmarr wrote: post #31

The "child safety measures" was dividing the playerbase into age groups and banning almost all communication between them. The age groups are under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, and 21+. Users only speak to other players ±1 age group, so 18-20 can speak to 16-17 or 21+. The problem is almost every game on Roblox is social and the matchmaking isn't mature enough to ensure players in a lobby can all communicate. My fav…

> these measures were implemented poorly and needed to be paired with matchmaking to not destroy the platform I see these as orthogonal issues. Your mathmaking gripe sounds legitimate, and is probably driven by Roblox's low 21+ user numbers. That would be expected to change over time. At the same time, I'm not seeing a great argument for why these folks (EDIT: Roblox) should continue to have unfettered access to kids…

If communication was proactively filtered to prevent bad actors (which Roblox obviously failed to do for years), why should it matter if an adult is playing a game with a kid they don't know?

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#40

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, May 02, 2026, 7:02 PM UTC

tailscaler2026 wrote: post #39

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> these measures were implemented poorly and needed to be paired with matchmaking to not destroy the platform I see these as orthogonal issues. Your mathmaking gripe sounds legitimate, and is probably driven by Roblox's low 21+ user numbers. That would be expected to change over time. At the same time, I'm not seeing a great argument for why these folks (EDIT: Roblox) should continue to have unfettered access to kids…

If communication was proactively filtered to prevent bad actors (which Roblox obviously failed to do for years), why should it matter if an adult is playing a game with a kid they don't know?

> why should it matter if an adult is playing a game with a kid they don't know?

My main problem is the kid is playing a game with significant social-media (and gambling) components. That's orthogonal to the question of who is playing with whom, which I agree, is theoretically solvable with better filters.