"Rewards for Deceit and Predation in Games... Calls to Regulate Roblox for Harming Emotional Development"

Petition Raises Concerns Over Roblox Operations
"Insufficient Review of Psychological Harm"
Calls for Quality Control and Individual Content Ratings

There are growing calls for stricter content regulation on Roblox, a platform widely used by elementary school students in Korea. Critics are arguing that there should be separate rating classification standards for game operation methods that could negatively impact children's emotional development.

According to Cheongwon24 on April 13, a petition titled "Strengthen Pre-Review and Psychological Design Regulations for Online Gaming Platforms to Protect Elementary School Students" is currently in the public comment phase, led by parents.

The petitioner stated, "We express serious concerns about certain content operation methods on the global gaming platform Roblox," emphasizing the need for a preventative management system rather than post-incident regulation. The petitioner cited issues such as reward structures that encourage deceiving or tricking others to obtain items, designs that prompt repeated logins and payments, events scheduled during late-night hours in Korea, and ongoing peer competition pressures as major problems with Roblox's operation.

He pointed out, "Elementary school students are at an age where value judgment and self-control abilities are not fully developed," and added, "Experiencing deceptive or predatory behaviors within a game as 'strategies' that lead to rewards can negatively affect their emotional development." He further noted, "Because there is no visual violence or explicit content, the current rating classification standards do not adequately review the psychological harm of Roblox," and requested institutional improvements such as pre-screening of psychological design elements in online games targeting children and tightening the limits on virtual currency payments by minors.

Roblox is a virtual world platform with 144 million daily active users (DAU), with a large portion of its user base being children and teenagers. According to user demographics released in February, 35% are under 13 years old, 38% are between 13 and 17 years old, and 27% are 18 or older. This means over 70% of users are minors. Korea, in particular, is one of the countries where Roblox is experiencing significant growth. Comparing 2022 to 2024, the DAU in Korea increased by 18%, and an average annual growth rate of 10.5% is expected through 2030. According to Mobile Index, Roblox ranked as the most popular mobile game in Korea last month.

Global Trend of Blocking Roblox

Around the world, there are increasing calls to regulate or block Roblox due to concerns about child safety and political reasons. Roblox is already banned in countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Russia, and Turkey. Regulatory moves are especially spreading throughout the Middle East.

In response, Roblox has made significant changes to its safety system. Since January this year, age verification through facial recognition or ID has been mandatory for chat functions. Direct messaging (DM) and chat activation also have age restrictions, requiring parental approval. Parents can set monthly spending limits, block access to specific content, or restrict friend requests from certain users.

However, the vast amount of content generated on the Roblox platform is not individually reviewed. The Korea Game Users Association pointed out that there is no qualitative control over content. They argued that because Roblox receives a single platform rating, the actual content users encounter is not properly addressed. Accordingly, the association insists that Roblox should be designated as a self-rating operator and that individual games should be rated separately.

Roblox commented, "Based on our 'Digital Citizenship Initiative,' we provide a healthy environment where people can create, share, and collaborate on experiences," and added, "We will discuss with the Game Rating and Administration Committee to establish an appropriate rating classification strategy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.