'Literally just child gambling': study urges swift regulation of Roblox's in-game spending

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney has revealed alarming insights into the impact of in-game spending on children who play Roblox, a popular online gaming platform. The study found that children struggle with complex and deceptive in-game spending features, often leading to unintentional overspending, highlighting the urgent need for action from policymakers, regulators, and platform developers.

• Children are struggling with complex virtual currency systems, describing in-game currency conversions as “scary” and difficult to understand, often leading to unintentional overspending.
• Random reward mechanics like loot boxes still feature despite being banned for users under 15 in Australia in 2024.
• Many children feel misled, experiencing financial disappointment and family conflicts due to misleading spending features.

Roblox, which boasts 380 million monthly active users worldwide, is a free-to-play platform that generates billions in revenue through in-game purchases and virtual currency systems. 

Much of Roblox’s US$3.6 billion revenue in 2024 was generated via in-game microtransactions, particularly through purchases of its virtual currency Robux.

The study, ‘They’re Scamming Me”: How Children Experience and Conceptualise Harm in Game Monetization conducted by researchers from the School of Architecture, Design and Planning interviewed 22 children aged 7–14, along with their parents, to understand their experiences with digital spending. The study provided unprecedented insights into how young players navigate digital transactions. Eighteen of the 22 children played Roblox.

“Our research found that the design of in-game spending features in games such as Roblox cause harm to young users,” said researcher and Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Taylor Hardwick.

The findings show that while children value their purchases, they struggle with complex transactions and deceptive mechanics — many children and parents describing them as “scams,” “cash grabs,” and even “child gambling.”

“In the interviews, we gave children an AUD $20 debit card to spend however they liked, to help us understand children’s decision-making around spending,” Dr Hardwick said.

“While four children purchased non-digital items with their debit card, such as bicycle parts, toys and lollies, 12 children made purchases in Roblox.”

Many of the children interviewed value their Roblox purchases, yet they frequently express frustration over the confusing and predatory nature of the platform’s monetisation mechanics. 

Researcher Professor Marcus Carter said: “Virtual currencies obscure purchase values which makes it difficult for children to discern the value of the items they want to buy in digital games. This leads to children spending more than they realise in game.”

An 11-year-old described navigating the virtual currency system as “scary,” with little understanding of the real-world costs associated with their spending. Others struggled with complex conversion rates between Robux and individual game currencies which made it difficult to grasp the actual value of their purchases; a 13-year-old, when asked how much they thought Robux cost in Australian dollars, said, “I can’t even begin to grasp that”.

Despite the 2024 Australia ban on loot boxes for users under 15, the study found that many popular Roblox games continue to feature monetised random reward mechanics.

Games such as Adopt Me!, Blox Fruits, and Pet Simulator 99 still encourage children to spend money on chance-based rewards, leading to financial disappointment and even family conflicts. 

“Parents report feeling overwhelmed and powerless to protect their children from these misleading features, which create a cycle of spending that can lead to significant emotional and financial distress,” Professor Carter said.

With around 42 percent of Roblox players aged under 13 years old, there are concerns that engaging with random reward mechanics might lead to problem gambling later in a child’s life, highlighting the urgent need for action from policymakers, regulators, and platform developers.

“With digital gaming becoming an integral part of childhood, urgent steps must be taken to protect young users from financial exploitation, and stronger enforcement of Australia’s existing loot box bans is crucial to ensuring compliance,” Professor Carter said. 

“We need to prioritise child safety over profit and eliminate deceptive monetisation features that exploit young players.

“We call on policymakers, regulators, and platform developers to work together to ensure that online gaming spaces are safe, transparent, ethical, and designed with children’s best interests in mind.”

DECLARATION

This project is funded by an ARC Future Fellowship grant (project title: The Monetisation of Children in the Digital Games Industry, FT220100076), and an ARC DECRA grant (project title: Paying and playing: Assessing and regulating digital games-as-a-service, DE240101275).

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