Roblox, oh Roblox - when did you become the #1 Pedophile Platform?
It all started when you lost someone vital...
ACT 1
This is Roblox, the biggest pedophile platform in the history of gaming.
You might know it as platform played by millions of kids, but behind this innocent facade lies a cunningly calculated system designed to groom young kids online. This isn’t just a story about a gaming platform; but about one of the most creative platforms that lost all of its reputation in just two years. And I will show you how it happened.
For most of us, it all started here, in 2006, when Roblox launched as a simple learning tool. Kids would playfully simulate physics and construction and dive into a community where “Adventure Awaits.” Pretty soon, kids discovered that they could use Roblox for more than just learning:
But kids were not the only ones who loved it; parents too were impressed with Roblox:
And the visionaires behind it?
David Baszucki, CEO & Founder and co-founder and VP of Engineering, Eric Cassel.
Both David and Erik, though strong partners, were very different in real life.
David, known as ‘Builderman’ on Roblox was the cool dude that everyone loved & respected.
In the early days, he would invite kids and parents on tours through Roblox and gather feedback to make Roblox more fun and safe. But for David, Roblox was more than just a learning tool - it was an entirely new category of human co-experience. With his background in investment, he pushed the platform to great heights, driven by growth and financial success.
Erik, on the other hand, was the heart of Roblox. He was the VP of Engineering who worked with all engineers to make everything work. It was Eric who perfected Roblox’s core system and nobody knew the ins and outs of Roblox like he did. A private guy with a big heart, he was one of the kindest persons, making sure the company’s values showed up in every line of code he wrote.
Back then, in the early days, Roblox had maybe 10 people online.
“We would sit around in the office […] and we knew every single person on Roblox…hahah.”
David Baszucki
And so Erik and David would manually moderate the chats and directly talk to players.
When they finally launched their first multiplayer game with - 20 users - Roblox started to explode. From 20 it became 17M users in just 6 years.
To stay financially independent, they soon introduced Robux. It would become central to Roblox’s growing economy. But as Roblox grew, so did the challenges. Their manual moderation just couldn’t keep up with millions of users online. The solution was to build a proper moderation system that would keep users safe. And so while David handled business, Erik focused on building their moderation. Everything was going well, they even launched their first TV commercial.
It was a dream come true. But then….
On February 11th, 2013, Erik Cassel passed away - from cancer. The news hit hard. In a public blog post, David reflected on the 20 years they had spent together, remembering Erik as the “nicest guy he has ever met.” But now, David was left to carry their vision for a safe and creative platform all alone. And just as he took on this new role, something disturbing was happening behind his back, that would expose a side of Roblox no one had seen coming.
But right now, David was busy at the GDC, showing off Roblox which had grown to millions of users.
With his new-found responsibility, David had a big decision to make:
How to keep kids safe while growing the business.
And so, David rolled out 3 major updates:
Paid access, so that creators could charge entry to their games
A price floor, which set the selling price for items so high, it pushed users to buy more Robux.
And the third update was their biggest one yet: The Developer Exchange, known as DevEx. DevEx allows developers to convert their earned Robux into real cash, with Roblox taking a cut. However, while great for Roblox, these updates weren’t so great for the community. They felt betrayed, as Roblox began to openly capitalize on creativity. Many quit, cancelled their memberships and even protested.
All of this happened within months after Eric’s passing.
But just when Roblox began to make more money, something terrible happened that no one could have ever imagined.
In a small home in Adelaide, Australia, Holly Newcombe was playing Roblox when another user suddenly messaged her and asked “Do you know what a child predator is?” Holly didn’t know what to say; she was just 12 yo. The stranger kept on asking “are you a pre-teen?” Allegedly knowing where she lived, he started threatening her to “take her clothes off and tape her to the bed.” At this point, Holly broke down in tears and called her mom who immediately reported it to Roblox. But despite multiple complaints, Holly’s mom never received a response; it became painfully clear to her that Roblox didn’t take her seriously, and so random users stepped up to report predators themselves, all in an attempt to keep Roblox safe. Meanwhile, it took David two months to finally ban the person who abused Holly.
But soon, David faced a much darker problem that demanded his immediate attention.
ACT 2
“Now Roblox includes something called Condo Games, which feature adult themes and foul language…CBS 2 Anna has more”
Around this time, a type of game known as “condo games” popped up on Roblox - a whole industry on its own. These aren’t your typical games. They’re virtual sex parties where avatars walk around naked or wear special outfits, act out special scenarios and have special physics.
The chats in there can get downright abusive too - obviously not a game for kids under 18. But users wouldn’t find these games advertised as ‘condo games’ anyways; they usually hide behind unrelated names that don’t give away the actual content.
But a quick Google or Reddit search can lead you to weird Discord servers where lewd chats and “public uploads” point the way. Every other minute a new upload pops up and once inside, regardless of age, it’s a hunting ground for predators that can get all wild on grooming, send you more ‘room invites’ and - what’s worse - even continue their chats over on Discord. The news made its round and soon countless articles started describing Roblox as a “children’s game with a sex problem” or revealed its “war on porn.” Yes, porn, because those games don’t just end up on Roblox. No, they also land on pornographic websites. While you can play them on Roblox, the activities within can of course be recorded and uploaded. As I said, it’s a whole industry on its own.
But why do these games even stay on Roblox; why’s nobody doing anything about it? Well, a look at their financial report reveals why: From a total of 2000 employees, 1700 are moderators. But with over 200M users every month, 1700 moderators are not enough. No wonder reports stack up faster than they can handle. Sure, they’ve got AI bots helping them, but those bots often mess up, wrongly banning users for saying 'lol' or flagging normal items as 'sexual content.'
Despite Roblox's policy of "zero-tolerance for endangering minors,” their flawed moderation lets predators slip right through. Even on Roblox’s own dev forum, people openly doubt the platform’s safety. But whith all this chaos unfolding, what is Roblox doing about it? Going public.
Yes, on March 10, 2021, David launched the company’s IPO on the NYSE and officially became a billionaire - overnight. But not just he was swimming in billions but the games too - from Brookhaven to Adopt Me, each top game raking in billions of visits. With such numbers, fixing moderation didn’t seem to be on their agenda..
But something else was definetely on their agenda: Something that would be the beginning of the end for Roblox.
On the 21st of November, 2021, 24 yo Benjamin Robert Simon got a message:
Benjamin, better known as Ruben Sim, was one of the few people actively reporting Roblox’s predators. But instead of embracing him, they sued him, for sexual conversations and harassment - all fake charges with made-up evidence from his past; stuff that didn’t even happen on Roblox but outside of it.
But this was just the beginning because one month later, Roblox tried to pull down a YouTube video that accused the company of child labor and exploitation. And the very month after that, two of Roblox’s own developers were caught grooming kids…I mean, what a mess. In just 2 months after the lawsuit, not just Roblox’s but David’s reputation took a massive hit. The community was raging. People didn’t understand what was going on and demanded answers.
And the answers came - in form of a report. “Roblox is a platform for children but also the leading platform for pedophiles, with ex-employees, developers, award winners and users being linked to a wide array of misconduct.”
The report was loaded with cases of child abuse and devs exploiting Roblox for all the wrong reasons. But this was no ordinary report - it was published by a newsletter known for calling out bad company practices.
So on the day it came out, Roblox’s stock dropped by 4%, and within the next two months, it tanked by 50%.
Such news always hit a company hard, but in Roblox’s case, it was especially hard: Because ever since going public, Roblox never turned a profit. Revenue was up, sure, but the earnings were deep in the red.
And with the company bleeding billions, one investor even fired off a letter to David, saying “You and your team need to get dead serious about becoming profitable.”
And David did get serious. With the pressure mounting, he knew he needed to act fast.
ACT 3
“What’s really interesting about the dating market, there’s probably a third of the population that won’t go on Bumble or Tinder or Hinge or whatever, just because of awkwardness.”
David Baszucki
David was hinting at the future roadmap. Because shortly after this interview, David announced he would ease restrictions on profanity, dating, gambling simulations and alcohol according to age guidlines. These news came 2 years after Roblox’s Director of Safety assured that while “Roblox is a safe space for meeting, we prohibit content that portrays romantic relationships.”
And then David dropped the bombshell.
Interviewer: “Do you think like the more mature things like nudity will ever be allowed on Roblox in any way?”
David: “I think what I would say is we would lead first and foremost with safety and civility, and then second with mirroring what happens in the physical world, and so I would never rule it out. I would say getting to that kind of stuff probably isn't in the short term future for us.”
David won’t rule out nudity. A statement that would yet again face scrutiny.
The National Center of Sexual Exploitation called out David in an open letter for knowing that Roblox was being used to*“target, groom, and abuse children”* with “inadequate parental controls” and a “false sense of security.” Like Holly, hundreds of other children were also mentioned in the letter. Yet, the letter ended optimistically, hoping “that Roblox will make the necessary changes.”
But to everyone’s surprise, just a few months after the letter, Roblox, instead of a kid’s app, announced it now “wants to be a dating app.”
At the RDC opening keynote, David dropped his plan to allow online dating on Roblox.
Ironically, David seemed a bit shy when breaking the news:
“Ultimately, we think 3D simulated meetings—I’m not gonna use the d-word—but real-life relationships are going to happen.”
David Baszucki
But while David was acting fast to please shareholders, parents too were acting fast. In their most recent case, parents sued Roblox over false safety promises and “child grooming,” with pretty clear evidence to support their claims. Roblox however dismissed every single accusation. In the U.S., Roblox is protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which shields them from liability for “thirdparty content.” Anything not directly published by Roblox falls under this protection.
How ironic—Roblox sues Ruben Sim for actions outside of Roblox, but uses the same excuse to dodge issues that happen inside of Roblox.
And so, to Roblox the “Plaintiffs are simply wrong” and have “cherry-picked statements.”
David…the cool guy that was once loved by kids and parents, is now drowning in scandals. But why go this far? Well, the community came to a tough conclusion:
Erik. On forums everywhere, users remembered the times when he was still around and that ever since “Erik died, Roblox has been on a downhill stretch.”
And when you realize that the whole moderation system wasn’t even David’s idea, things become painfully clear.
“And then my partner Erik said, “We have to build a moderation system.”
David Baszucki
Yes, a moderation system. It was Erik’s idea to begin with. But with all the growth and lack of moderation, what would Erik say now, if he was still alive?
Interviewer: “You mentioned your co-founder, Erik Cassel, who died tragically of cancer in 2013. If he was here today, what do you think he would think of the Roblox that Roblox has become today?”
David: “Wow, I think he’d be….proud….it’s a good question.”
Not sure he would be proud. Erik’s dream was that of a safe creative space. But in the world of business, dreams take a backseat when profits are at stake. And that's when even the most powerful words from the most powerful men are spoken in sheep's clothing. Who would have thought that “Adventure Awaits” would come to mean something completely different.