World Building Loopholes
Following an inquiry by Sky News, the UK Gambling Commission launched an emergency investigation into the popular world-building game Roblox. The investigation has revealed that illegal casinos are using the game to advertise to and exploit children as young as 12-16 years old.
Roblox is a world-building game that allows players to design and develop their own games. In the game, players can access other people’s games. While unlicensed casinos are not published on the Roblox website, several illegal companies have used the game as a backdoor to attract young players.
The game has an in-game currency, Robux, with 100 Robux converting to around £1. The casinos have been allowing players to sign up using their Roblox account, allowing those who have signed up to the site to convert their Robux into casino chips and then play using them.
Several of these sites also allow players to deposit and withdraw using cryptocurrencies, exchanging Robux for cryptocurrencies. All of this is permitted by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC), and all of the sites in question are not licensed.
Ongoing Legal Battle
The situation has seen Roblox come under serious scrutiny, with the parents of five children now taking the game to court. Evidence presented during the court case shows that the game had been aware of at least one of the online casinos involved since 2022.
While there has been no confirmation as to the number of illegal casinos that have been involved with Roblox, the investigation from Sky News revealed that BloxFlip, Bloxmoon and RBLXWild were three of the main sites involved. Numbers show that these sites receive around 2.8 million visitors a month combined.
The status of in-game currencies and loot-boxes has been one that has been hotly contested across the gambling and gaming industries for years, and this investigation is likely to raise some serious questions moving forward.
