16min // 2023//More Perfect Union

Edited by Addison Post

One of the most popular video games in the world isn’t actually a video game. Roblox is a social platform where users, mostly kids, build games for other kids to play, getting compensated in scraps while the corporation rakes in billions of dollars. And labor exploitation isn’t the only problem on Roblox. There’s scammers, nightmarish corporate metaverses, gambling, and chat rooms ripe with predatory behavior, all in a game aimed primarily toward kids. It’s not hopeless. There’s precedent for the FTC to take action. We investigated some of the most dangerous ways Roblox extracts value from children, and what we can do to stop them.