Roblox Traps Child Creators in Digital Scrip to Fuel Platform Growth

People Make Games

By devaluing internal currency and imposing prohibitive cashout thresholds, Roblox extracts billions in uncompensated labor from minors whose working conditions can only be checked through government regulation.

AI-assisted summary of Investigation: How Roblox Is Exploiting Young Game Developers — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2021-08-19

Key ideas

Roblox Corporation, valued at $41 billion upon going public, relies on a vast developer ecosystem where children aged 9 to 15 create content under marketing promises of earning easy money. (0:00)
While standard PC storefronts like Steam and Epic grant developers 70% to 88% of sales, Roblox developers take home an estimated 17 cents on the dollar after internal cuts and conversion devaluation. (7:01)
The platform's Developer Exchange imposes a 100,000 Robux (~$1,000 face value) minimum withdrawal threshold and devalues the currency to $350 upon cashout, functioning similarly to outlawed historical company scrip. (10:11)
Discoverability is heavily pay-to-play, forcing young creators to bid real cash converted to Robux in ad slot auctions to gain any visibility among 20 million hosted experiences. (4:21)
Labor experts and creators argue that collective bargaining is impossible among minors, making external state regulation the only viable mechanism to stop digital child labor exploitation. (19:46)

Detailed notes

## Background This investigative video was published on YouTube by the channel People Make Games on August 19, 2021, written and presented by Quintin Smith with art direction by Anni Sayers. According to the page description, with Roblox Corporation reaching a market valuation of over $45 billion, the report investigates whether the children responsible for producing the vast majority of its content are being taken advantage of.

## TL;DR The investigation reveals how Roblox encourages its young player base, primarily children aged 9 to 15, to pursue game development with misleading promises of easy wealth, only to leave the vast majority earning nothing. Creators face near-impossible discoverability hurdles unless they gamble real money on internal ad auctions, and those who do earn Robux face an exorbitant withdrawal threshold and punitive devaluation via the Developer Exchange, mirroring historical company scrip. Structural platform lock-in, aggressive monetization, and rampant burnout among minors keep the corporate ecosystem stocked with free content. Experts and young developers conclude that because collective organizing is impractical for minors, external government regulation is necessary to stop the exploitation.

## Atmosphere & style The presentation is analytical, morally urgent, and quietly devastating, contrasting Roblox's cheerful, kid-friendly corporate branding with stark economic realities and exploitative labor practices. Quintin Smith guides the viewer with steady journalistic poise, weaving together historical parallels like 1930s company scrip, platform capitalism analysis, and sobering firsthand testimonials. Watching the piece feels eye-opening and deeply unsettling, particularly when hearing disillusioned young creators reflect on algorithmic failure with the weary cynicism of burned-out adult professionals.

## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=0s) Roblox Corporation, valued at $41 billion upon going public, relies on a vast developer ecosystem where children aged 9 to 15 create content under marketing promises of earning easy money. - [07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=421s) While standard PC storefronts like Steam and Epic grant developers 70% to 88% of sales, Roblox developers take home an estimated 17 cents on the dollar after internal cuts and conversion devaluation. - [10:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=611s) The platform's Developer Exchange imposes a 100,000 Robux (~$1,000 face value) minimum withdrawal threshold and devalues the currency to $350 upon cashout, functioning similarly to outlawed historical company scrip. - [04:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=261s) Discoverability is heavily pay-to-play, forcing young creators to bid real cash converted to Robux in ad slot auctions to gain any visibility among 20 million hosted experiences. - [19:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1186s) Labor experts and creators argue that collective bargaining is impossible among minors, making external state regulation the only viable mechanism to stop digital child labor exploitation.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=0s) Roblox's massive $41 billion market valuation is driven by over 20 million user-created experiences, directly powered by child labor. - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=0s) Roblox avoids calling titles 'games' in part to skirt App Store regulations regarding hosting an unauthorized game store on iOS devices. - [02:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=148s) Young players are systematically funneled into becoming entrepreneurs through aggressive platform marketing slogans, tutorials, and curriculum promising wealth. - [04:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=261s) Organic game discoverability is virtually non-existent, surfacing only the top 1,000 games and pushing young creators into high-risk ad auctions. - [07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=421s) Developers face an onerous cashing-out barrier requiring an active Premium subscription and a minimum threshold of 100,000 Robux. - [07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=421s) Roblox devalues Robux upon exit, converting roughly $1,000 worth of internal purchasing power into just $350 in real-world currency. - [10:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=611s) The economic loop of paying creators in Robux closely mirrors the exploitative company scrip systems used in 19th- and 20th-century mining camps. - [11:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=682s) Roblox employs platform capitalism tactics, deliberately running annual operating losses to fuel market expansion and capture user data rather than compensating developers fairly. - [13:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=808s) Solo child creators face near-zero odds of commercial viability compared to well-capitalized production studios on the platform. - [15:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=900s) Roblox's Experience-Based Payouts incentivize compulsive, retention-heavy game loops over genuine fun or quality design. - [15:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=900s) Stratification between successful studio heads and precarious junior creators splits class interests, preventing collective labor organizing on the platform. - [16:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=989s) Young developers routinely crunch and burn out without the protection of labor laws or knowledge of sustainable industry working standards. - [18:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1084s) Breakout ideas by young creators are frequently cloned and out-promoted by larger studios, while engine lock-in prevents developers from porting games to other platforms. - [19:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1186s) Because minors cannot effectively unionize, labor experts assert that government regulation prohibiting child monetization is the only way to halt these practices.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=0s) The Staggering Scale of Roblox

The investigation begins with three startling realities about Roblox, currently the most popular video game across Europe and the United States, played by roughly 200 million primarily young people every month. Rather than functioning purely as an individual game, Roblox operates as an expansive creative platform—a downloadable portal housing a vast sea of multiplayer games spanning every genre imaginable, united mainly by feeling slightly "floaty and janky." The engine’s accessibility stems from the fact that anyone can freely download its creative suite and access complimentary server hosting to develop and monetize games. While the leading PC storefront Steam hosts nearly 55,000 games, Roblox hosts over 20 million distinct "experiences." This specific nomenclature exists for legal convenience: Roblox avoids calling them "games" to prevent Apple from classifying the platform as an unpermitted game store operating inside the iOS App Store.

The financial and operational mechanics behind this massive ecosystem reveal stark disparities. First, developers earn an unusually tiny fraction from their creations compared to industry norms. Steam faces perennial criticism for taking a 30% cut of revenue, while the Epic Games Store and Microsoft’s PC marketplace take only 12%. Roblox officially claims that developers receive roughly 24.5% of any sale, though the true figure is substantially lower. Second, when Roblox Corporation went public on the stock market, it achieved a valuation of $41 billion—positioning it comfortably between Electronic Arts and Nintendo, and effectively making it worth seven times the value of Ubisoft. Third, this entire corporate empire relies directly on child labor. As Quintin Smith highlights, Roblox’s vice president of marketing, Tami Bhaumik, openly stated: “From the very beginning, it was about having kids develop games for other kids.”

- Active monthly player base: approximately 200 million mostly young users. - Total hosted experiences: over 20 million (compared to ~55,000 games on Steam). - Market cut comparison: Steam takes 30%; Epic Games and Microsoft take 12%; Roblox claims developers get ~24.5%. - Stock market valuation at IPO: $41 billion (surpassing major publishers and equaling seven Ubisofts). - Fundamental ethical question: “These kids aren’t just hobbyists, they’re doing real work that is driving the value of one of the biggest video game publishers in history.”

---

[02:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=148s) Grooming Young Players into Entrepreneurs

Before dissecting how Roblox treats its workforce, one must examine how the company converts its young player base into workers in the first place. The platform lowers technical barriers by offering free software, complimentary hosting, built-in player moderation, and simplified development workflows that bypass the steep learning curve of traditional 3D modeling. However, simply providing a creative sandbox is a money-losing proposition for Roblox due to the steep costs of server infrastructure. To make the model profitable, Roblox immerses its core demographic—children aged 9 to 15—in entrepreneurial ambition from the moment they log in.

Playing Roblox inherently involves funneling money to other creators through the purchase of experience passes and cosmetic avatar items. The website navigation reinforces this pipeline: the primary tabs at the top of the interface invite users to discover games, shop for cosmetics, and begin developing their own creations. When curious kids click the creation tab, they are met with marketing slogans: "Make Anything," "Reach Millions of Players," and "Earn Serious Cash." The platform tells them, “Creators like you are getting paid for what they love to do.” Official PR showcases, YouTube documentaries, support documentation, tutorials, and even classroom curriculum on `education.roblox.com` continuously pitch game development as a pathway to easy wealth. As one interviewed 11-year-old developer put it: “I saw other big games, I saw other developers getting money in a way that looked easy.”

---

[04:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=261s) The Discoverability Black Hole and Pay-to-Play Advertising

Despite the alluring promises of "serious cash," the vast majority of Roblox creators earn absolutely nothing. While the average independent game on Steam earns several thousand dollars, most Roblox experiences generate zero dollars. Navigating the marketplace mechanics explains this disparity, though the system is so convoluted it takes weeks of research for an adult to fully comprehend.

Although developing a project is straightforward, reaching an audience is an almost insurmountable uphill battle. Roblox’s browsing interface displays only the top 1,000 or so experiences that boast the highest concurrent player counts out of the 20 million hosted on the platform. There are no discoverability mechanisms or dedicated browse categories highlighting brand-new titles or emerging designers; even the "Up and Coming" category exclusively surfaces games that already maintain thousands of concurrent players. Consequently, a young creator has only two options: hustle tirelessly to convince external streamers or YouTubers to play their game, or pay Roblox to advertise it.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Roblox Game Promotion Loop accDescr: Flowchart illustrating how young developers are forced to buy Robux to bid on advertisements with no guarantee of visibility.

subgraph Monetization ["Monetization Trap"] A["Young Developer Creates Game"] --> B{"Wants Players?"} B -->|"Option 1"| C["Hustle Streamers & YouTubers"] B -->|"Option 2"| D["Buy Ad Space via Roblox Auction"] D --> E["Convert Real Cash to Robux"] E --> F["Bid Robux in Ad Slot Auctions"] F --> G{"High-Risk Gamble"} G -->|"Fails to surface"| H["Zero Return on Investment"] G -->|"Piques Interest"| I["Surfaces in Top 1,000 Games"] end ```

Purchasing internal advertisements requires developers to convert real-world money into Robux. Ad space is distributed through an auction bidding system that creators openly discuss on developer forums as a gamble, hoping that a well-placed bid will push their project into the public eye. Roblox entices kids with grand promises of fortune, only to demand cash upfront if they want anyone to see their work. Professional Roblox developers confirm that the ecosystem has become virtually impossible for newcomers to crack. As one experienced developer explained: “I don't think it's really possible for young developers to succeed on the platform anymore. It's really hard to get into those top 200 games.” Creating a hit is likened to trying to produce a viral TikTok or meme, where failing to cater precisely to the youth demographic or tune the gameplay loop means immediate failure.

---

[07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=421s) The Cashing-Out Trap and Currency Devaluation

Even if a young developer defies the odds, creates a minor hit, and begins accumulating Robux from in-game player purchases, realizing real-world income is deliberately obstructed. Roblox extracts a 30% cut from every internal marketplace transaction and credits the remaining earnings in Robux rather than actual currency. When developers attempt to convert that Robux into real money through the Developer Exchange (DevEx) system, they run into severe corporate roadblocks.

Roblox mandates an exorbitant minimum withdrawal threshold of 100,000 Robux, which represents roughly $1,000 worth of purchasing power within the game. If a child earns $900 worth of Robux, their real-world paycheck is $0 because they cannot trigger a withdrawal. Furthermore, Roblox forbids any cashouts unless the user maintains an ongoing monthly paid subscription to Roblox Premium at $5 per month. By setting the threshold so high, Roblox ensures that most young creators never withdraw their earnings, choosing instead to recirculate the digital scrip by purchasing cosmetics, funding ad bids, or paying other child developers—a transaction that Roblox taxes yet again.

When a creator finally hits the 100,000 Robux threshold, Roblox devalues the currency at the point of exit. While buying 100,000 Robux costs roughly $1,000, cashing out 100,000 Robux yields only $350. By penalizing users for pulling funds out, Roblox encourages capital to remain locked in the ecosystem. According to Roblox’s published financial records, for every $1 the company takes in bookings, a mere 17 cents ever leaves the platform into developer hands. The platform remains so deliberately opaque that even full-time professionals cannot determine their exact revenue split, forced instead to make rough calculations based on asymmetrical conversion rates.

---

[10:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=611s) The Modern Rebirth of Company Scrip

The economic design of Roblox mirrors historical worker exploitation, revived in the largely unregulated modern tech landscape. Quintin Smith directly compares paying creators in Robux to the nineteenth- and twentieth-century practice in American mining and logging camps of paying laborers in company scrip. Scrip was proprietary paper currency created by industrial operators that had no legal validity outside company territory, redeemable solely at company-owned general stores.

Mining camps favored company scrip for three reasons that mirror Roblox's business model: 1. **Recirculation of Capital:** Forcing workers to spend money exclusively at company-owned venues guaranteed that payroll flowed directly back to the employer. 2. **Behavioral Control and Coercion:** Workers were terrified of violating company regulations because management held the unilateral power to revoke their scrip balances, effectively seizing their entire livelihood. 3. **Suppression of Mobility:** Workers could not easily quit or walk away because doing so instantly rendered their accumulated wealth worthless.

Just as mining operators maintained exchange booths that converted company scrip to US dollars at punitive, predatory exchange rates, Roblox converts Robux to real cash at a fractional rate. The historical parallel illustrates how Roblox’s closed-loop economy suppresses the ability of young game creators to obtain actual financial independence from their labor.

[11:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=682s) Platform Capitalism and the Myth of Unprofitability

Whenever developers band together on the official Roblox forums to plead for a fairer revenue cut, discussions predictably fall into a routine pattern. Roblox Corporation steps in with cold, detached corporate boilerplate designed to shut down debate rather than engage with it. Meanwhile, defenders in the community often argue that asking for higher pay is absurd because Roblox has never turned an annual profit, operating at a net loss year after year and leaving no spare cash to distribute. Quintin Smith dismisses this defense outright as nonsense, pointing out that Wall Street analysts valued Roblox as a financial engine worth seven times the value of Ubisoft.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Platform Capitalism Expansion Cycle accDescr: Chart illustrating how platform capitalism reinvests potential profit into rapid expansion to establish a monopoly. subgraph GrowthEngine["Platform Capitalism Growth Loop"] A["200 Million Monthly Users"] --> B["Aggressive Global Expansion & Hiring"] B --> C["Continuous Operating Losses"] C --> D["Monopoly Market Control & Data Dominance"] D --> B end C -.->|"Depletes Available Capital"| E["Developers Denied Higher Payouts"] ```

Roblox is executing the playbook of platform capitalism, mirroring companies like Uber, Spotify, and Airbnb. Under this model, businesses pursue unsustainable expansion—hiring aggressively, entering foreign markets, and deliberately ballooning overhead—to swallow up market share and capture consumer data until they achieve an unassailable monopoly akin to Amazon or Facebook. If Roblox were showing positive net income, institutional investors would question why management was not reinvesting every cent into capturing territory. Consequently, when independent creators ask for a larger piece of the pie, management claims the cupboards are bare, even as the platform boasts 200 million monthly active users and the CEO enjoys billionaire status. Smith notes that People Make Games reached out to Roblox Corporation for comment on its treatment of young developers, but the company did not respond.

- The United States outlawed company scrip in 1938, yet Roblox continues paying developers in proprietary digital currency. - “Roblox is just doing the same thing as companies like Spotify, Uber and AirBnB, something known as platform capitalism,” explains Quintin Smith. - Reinvesting revenue into expansion directly reduces the capital pool that could otherwise fund developer payouts.

---

[13:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=808s) The Illusion of Discovery: Emil’s Experience

To illustrate the human impact of Roblox’s ecosystem, Smith introduces Emil, an eleven-year-old aspiring creator whose parents sent him to a specialized summer camp to learn how to code in Roblox Studio. Emil designed and published a game entirely on his own, only for it to sink without trace. Despite his youth, Emil reflects on the platform with the world-weary resignation of a veteran software developer.

During an interview, Emil shared hand-drawn charts contrasting the mechanics of discoverability on Roblox. Well-funded production teams with dedicated resources experience sustained player spikes; even when user engagement dips, their momentum guarantees subsequent rebounds in a continuous upward cycle. In contrast, an amateur solo creator gets a single brief blip in player activity before flatlining permanently at zero. Emil admitted that while he wanted to purchase on-platform advertising to give his game a fighting chance, he did not possess the Robux required to bid for algorithmic impressions.

- “Even though Roblox encourages you to make games, the likelihood of you making a successful game is basically zero,” observes Emil. - Solo creators are pitted against professionalized, well-capitalized development teams. - Algorithmic promotion favors titles that already command millions of visits, freezing out hobbyists who lack advertising budgets.

---

[15:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=900s) Rewarding the Top Fraction: Engagement Over Fun

Roblox Corporation derives clear structural benefits from concentrating nearly all platform wealth into a tiny fraction of its creators. The small minority of developers who hit the jackpot can transition into full-time studio heads, hire payroll staff, produce continuous live-service updates, and serve as glamorous brand ambassadors at marketing showcases like the annual Bloxy Awards. The only meaningful pay concession Roblox has made in recent years is the introduction of "Experience-Based Payouts," a compensation pool distributed to developers whose games retain Roblox Premium subscribers for the longest durations.

This model tacitly incentivizes game design centered around addictive loops, grind-heavy mechanics, and psychological manipulation rather than genuine fun. Game design professor and labor activist Ty Underwood explains that this deliberate stratification prevents collective labor action. When successful platform creators become studio bosses who oversee their own contracted subordinates, their class interests diverge completely from the rank-and-file workers who produce content on the platform.

- “You can't organise bosses,” says Ty Underwood. “Their interests do not align with workers.” - “The worker's power comes from their ability to stop production, and all bosses everywhere it is against their interest to stop production,” Underwood emphasizes. - Experience-Based Payouts reward session duration above all else, skewing design toward compulsive retention tactics.

---

[16:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=989s) Crunch Culture and the Public Company Mandate

Smith contacted one of Roblox’s most successful studio heads, who agreed to speak candidly on condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their business relationship with corporate management. The developer acknowledged that while valid criticisms exist, they did not want to be publicly quoted in a critical documentary. They did, however, issue an urgent warning regarding the harsh working conditions experienced by youth attempting to replicate their commercial success.

According to this anonymous developer, young creators routinely burn out because they lack exposure to professional industry standards regarding healthy work hours and sustainable scope. They urged young developers to resist the pressure to work grueling shifts and cautioned them to temper their commercial expectations, emphasizing that out of millions of platform experiences, only a microscopic group ever turns a profit.

Yet as Smith observes, Roblox Corporation has a fiduciary obligation as a publicly traded enterprise to maximize shareholder returns. Having hundreds of thousands of minors pour free labor, imagination, and uncompensated time into chasing success costs the corporation nothing. While an estimated 99.9% of these young creators burn out and walk away with zero financial compensation, their collective unpaid output keeps the Roblox ecosystem supplied with endless novelty.

- “Despite some fair criticisms we have a good working relationship with Roblox and I wouldn't necessarily want to be directly featured or quoted in a video critical of their platform,” admitted the anonymous high-profile developer. - “On Roblox many young devs crunch and burn out... they're not privy to ongoing dev community conversations about healthy working practices,” the developer stated. - “Lower your expectations - there are millions of experiences on Roblox and only a handful become 'top games', make sure to have fun even if only a few people play your game,” they advised.

---

[18:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1084s) Idea Cloning and Engine Lock-in

Genya, a developer who participated in Roblox’s official accelerator/internship initiative, described just how dismal the odds are even inside company-sanctioned talent pipelines. Within his entire internship cohort, Genya was the only individual to actually launch a product, and his title—peaking at approximately 7,000 concurrent players—was the sole project that gained commercial traction.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Roblox Developer Lock-in Cycle accDescr: Diagram illustrating how developers are trapped within Roblox's proprietary ecosystem. A["Novice Codes Experience in Luau / Studio"] --> B["Game Gains Modest Traction"] B --> C{"Risk of Idea Theft"} C -->|"Older Studio Clones & Outspends"| D["Original Project Flattened"] C -->|"Developer Attempts to Migrate"| E["Trapped by Proprietary Tech"] E --> F["No Code Portability to Steam, Epic, or iOS"] F --> G["Sunken Skillset & Locked IP"] ```

Even when a young innovator devises a breakout gameplay concept, nothing prevents older, better-funded teams from copying the mechanics, polishing the presentation, and dominating search algorithms through massive advertising spends. Crucially, creators who build on Roblox cannot export their projects elsewhere. Unlike indie developers who build on standard game engines and can distribute across Steam, the Epic Games Store, and mobile marketplaces, Roblox developers are locked into an idiosyncratic, proprietary scripting environment. The technical knowledge and code assets accumulated inside Roblox Studio cannot be extracted to external platforms, making creators dependent on Roblox long after they realize the economic odds are stacked against them.

- “In my class I was the only person who released a game, and that game was the only game from the whole class that actually did well, and we had like 7000 people online,” recalls Genya. - “What makes Roblox money is empowering kids into workers with unreasonable expectations of what they can achieve on this platform in a way that would be illegal if it wasn’t happening online,” summarizes Quintin Smith. - Proprietary lock-in ensures that developers cannot port their code, communities, or earnings to alternative storefronts.

---

[19:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1186s) The Need for External Regulation

Addressing these systemic labor abuses is complicated by the age of the workforce. Labor activist Ty Underwood points out that organizing collective union campaigns among children is practically impossible, as even young adults struggle to recognize when an employer’s business interests conflict with their own welfare. Because grass-roots organizing cannot protect minors in this context, Underwood argues that external state regulation is the only viable safeguard.

Underwood advocates for legislation that prohibits platforms whose user bases consist primarily of children from allowing users to monetize and sell digital goods within their experiences. When asked for his perspective, eleven-year-old Emil suggested that children should be encouraged to explore game creation, but platforms must stop misleading them into believing that building a profitable business is easy.

Smith concludes that Roblox Corporation will never willingly enact internal reforms that jeopardize revenue generation. Instead, the company will continue extracting value from its impressionable user base unless external legal frameworks hold it accountable. The video ends with a request for viewers to share the investigation to build public awareness, followed by an appeal for channel support on Patreon, where contributors can access behind-the-scenes content such as *Bad Idea House*.

- “I think the answer in this case is it should simply be regulated that Roblox cannot have people sell within their games if their audience is largely children,” asserts Ty Underwood. - “I think that kids should be encouraged, but they shouldn't be lied to about how easy it is because it's not easy,” stated Emil. - Quintin Smith concludes that Roblox will keep scratching revenue out of its audience regardless of fairness, mental health, or developer autonomy until forced to change.

## Notable quotes > [18:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1084s) What makes Roblox money is empowering kids into workers with unreasonable expectations of what they can achieve on this platform in a way that would be illegal if it wasn’t happening online — Quintin Smith

> [13:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=808s) Even though Roblox encourages you to make games, the likelihood of you making a successful game is basically zero — Emil

> [19:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1186s) it should simply be regulated that Roblox cannot have people sell within their games if their audience is largely children — Ty Underwood

> [16:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=989s) On Roblox many young devs crunch and burn out... they're not privy to ongoing dev community conversations about healthy working practices — Anonymous developer

> [16:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=989s) Lower your expectations - there are millions of experiences on Roblox and only a handful become 'top games', make sure to have fun even if only a few people play your game — Anonymous developer

## Mentioned Roblox, Roblox Corporation, People Make Games, Quintin Smith, Anni Sayers, Tami Bhaumik, Ty Underwood, Emil, Genya, Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft, Apple, iOS App Store, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Robux, Developer Exchange (DevEx), Second Life, Entropia Universe, Roblox Studio, Bloxy Awards, Spotify, Uber, Airbnb, Amazon, Facebook, TikTok, Patreon, Bad Idea House

## Video description With Roblox Corporation now being valued at more than $45 billion, we ask whether the kids making the vast majority of its content are being taken advantage of?

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PeopleMakeGames

Written and presented by Quintin Smith: https://twitter.com/Quinns108

Design and art direction by Anni Sayers: https://twitter.com/anni_sayers

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ)

中文简报

Roblox用数字代金券套牢未成年创作者以推动平台增长通过贬值平台代币和设置极高的提现门槛，Roblox从未成年人身上榨取了数十亿美元的无偿劳动，而这种工作条件唯有通过政府监管才能得到遏制。调查揭示了Roblox如何通过轻松致富的虚假承诺，鼓励以9至15岁儿童为主的年轻玩家群体从事游戏开发，最终却导致绝大多数人一无所获。创作者若不将真金白银押注于内部广告竞价，就几乎无法获得任何曝光；而那些确实赚取了Robux的人，又面临极高的提现门槛以及通过开发者兑换机制（Developer Exchange）实施的惩罚性贬值，这与历史上已被取缔的公司代币制度如出一辙。平台的结构性锁定、激进的变现模式以及未成年人普遍面临的倦怠，让该企业的生态系统持续获得免费内容。专家和年轻开发者认为，由于未成年人无法进行集体维权，外部政府监管是制止这种剥削的唯一必要途径。上市时估值达410亿美元的Roblox公司，依赖一个庞大的开发者生态系统，其中9至15岁的儿童在轻松赚大钱的营销承诺下进行内容创作。 (0:00) 虽然Steam和Epic等标准PC商店向开发者提供70%至88%的销售分成，但Roblox开发者在平台抽成和兑换贬值后，估计每美元只能拿到17美分。 (7:01) 该平台的开发者兑换机制设定了10万Robux（面值约合1000美元）的最低提现门槛，并在提现时将其贬值至350美元，其运作方式类似于历史上已被非法的公司代币。 (10:11) 曝光机会严重依赖付费，迫使年轻创作者将真金白银兑换为Robux参与广告位竞价，以便在平台托管的2000万个体验项目中获得一点曝光度。 (4:21) 劳工专家和创作者认为，未成年人之间不可能开展集体谈判，因此外部国家监管是制止数字童工剥削的唯一可行机制。 (19:46)

Reading summary

An investigation by People Make Games argues that Roblox Corporation leverages misleading marketing, predatory monetization, and platform lock-in to extract labor from child creators while yielding them minimal financial compensation. Recruiting Young Developers Through Unrealistic Promises (2:28) Roblox hosts over 20 million user-created experiences, engaging roughly 200 million monthly active users primarily aged 9 to 15. The company aggressively markets game development to this young demographic as an accessible path to wealth, featuring slogans like 'Make Anything' and 'Earn Serious Cash' across its website, PR showcases, and educational curriculum. Tami Bhaumik, Roblox's vice president of marketing, stated that the platform was designed from the beginning for 'kids develop[ing] games for other kids.' However, discoverability is structurally limited: the platform's browser highlights only the top 1,000 games by concurrent player count, leaving amateur creators with virtually no organic traffic. Pay-to-Play Algorithms and Corporate Scrip Economics (4:21) Because organic reach is nonexistent, solo creators must convert real money into Robux to bid on internal advertising auctions with no guarantee of visibility. Even when games generate revenue, Roblox exercises strict financial control. The company takes an initial 30% cut on marketplace sales and distributes proceeds in Robux. Converting this digital currency to real money via the Developer Exchange requires maintaining a $5 monthly Premium subscription and meeting a high minimum cashout threshold of 100,000 Robux (~$1,000 face value). Roblox then devalues the currency at exit, converting 100,000 Robux into only $350 in cash. Platform Capitalism and Reinvestment of Worker Output (10:11) The report compares Robux to historical company scrip, an outlawed practice where mining operations paid workers in proprietary tokens redeemable only at company-owned stores, preventing external wealth accumulation. Roblox Corporation's public filings indicate that for every dollar taken in bookings, only about 17 cents is paid out to developers. While community defenders cite ongoing annual net losses to justify poor compensation, the investigation links this to platform capitalism: Roblox deliberately operates at a loss to aggressively expand infrastructure, capture foreign markets, and secure monopoly power, boosting its corporate valuation to $41 billion at IPO while withholding greater revenue splits. Crunch, Asset Lock-in, and Division of Labor (16:29) A high-profile studio head speaking anonymously warned that young creators routinely crunch and burn out because they lack knowledge of sustainable industry practices. Roblox incentivizes compulsive design through 'Experience-Based Payouts,' which reward titles that retain Premium subscribers the longest rather than those prioritizing gameplay quality. Furthermore, because development relies on a proprietary scripting language, creators suffer complete engine lock-in and cannot export their code or assets to open marketplaces like Steam or iOS. Compounding this, successful indie mechanics are frequently cloned and out-advertised by better-capitalized studios. Labor activist Ty Underwood argues that conventional grassroots organizing is infeasible among minors, leaving state-level regulation—such as banning platforms dominated by children from monetizing user creations—as the only viable protection. Quintin Smith concludes that Roblox will not willingly reform practices that supply it with free novelty and labor unless compelled by external legal frameworks. Roblox Corporation did not respond to requests for comment.

精炼阅读摘要

People Make Games 的调查指出，Roblox 依托约 2 亿月活跃用户构建了估值达 410 亿美元的商业帝国，其核心模式是通过降低开发门槛与宣传创富神话吸引未成年人劳动，但绝大多数年轻开发者因曝光垄断、货币贬值与封闭生态而难以获得实际报酬。创业诱饵与无法企及的曝光门槛 (2:28) Roblox 拥有超过 2000 万个“体验”（experiences），但绝大多数作品处于无人问津的“黑洞”状态。调查指出，平台向 9 至 15 岁核心用户群提供免费开发软件、服务器托管与简化工作流，并通过官方宣传、教学材料和“赚大钱”等口号将游戏制作包装为轻而易举的致富路径。受访的 11 岁开发者 Emil 表示，平台让人误以为赚钱很轻松，但其现实几率几乎为零。与主流 PC 平台 Steam 会使普通独立游戏产生数千美元收入不同，Roblox 的绝大多数创作者收入为零。其浏览界面仅展示并发玩家数最高的约 1000 款头部作品，缺乏对新作品或新兴创作者的推介机制。新手开发者若想获取玩家，除了外部游说主播，只能通过竞价系统向 Roblox 购买广告位。多位开发者指出，这实际上是一场用真金白银兑换 Robux 参与的高风险赌博，缺乏资金的业余创作者根本无法与成熟团队竞争。虚拟代币机制与提现壁垒 (7:01) 即便创作者的作品成功赚取内购代币，Roblox 的提现体系（DevEx）也设置了严苛门槛。平台在每次交易中先抽取 30% 分成，并强制要求账户持有者维持每月 5 美元的 Roblox Premium 订阅，同时将最低提现门槛设定在 100,000 Robux（游戏内价值约 1000 美元）。若未达标，创作者实际能拿到的法定货币为零，代币只能在平台内部循环消费或支付广告费，再度被平台抽税。当创作者满足提现条件时，代币还会面临严厉的退出折价。玩家购买 100,000 Robux 需支付约 1000 美元，但通过 DevEx 提现 100,000 Robux 仅能获得 350 美元。官方财报数据表明，Roblox 每进账 1 美元的预订额，最终流向开发者的仅约 17 美分。调查记者 Quintin Smith 将这种机制直接比作 19 至 20 世纪美国工矿营地发行的“公司代币”（company scrip）：企业借专属代币确保资金回流、惩罚提现并牢牢控制劳动者。平台资本主义与抗议无效化 (11:22) 面对开发者群体关于分成比例过低（Steam 抽成 30%，Epic 和微软抽成 12%，而 Roblox 声称的 24.5% 实际远低于此）的质疑，官方往往采用冷淡的模板化语言予以驳回，社区拥护者则常以“公司长年净亏损、无利可分”为由进行辩解。然而，调查反驳了这一说法，指出 Roblox 上市估值达 410 亿美元，超越了多家老牌大厂，其长期亏损是 Uber、Spotify 等平台资本主义企业的典型扩张策略。在这一模式下，企业将潜在利润全部用于全球扩张、大量招聘与数据圈地以追求垄断地位，进而导致可用于分配给开发者的资金池被持续消耗。管理层宣称无力提高待遇的同时，首席执行官已跻身亿万富翁行列。Roblox 面向 People Make Games 的采访置评请求未作任何回应。生态内卷、技术锁定与外部监管缺位 (15:00) Roblox 的分配机制进一步激化了开发群体的阶层分化与劳动剥削。平台近年推行的“基于体验的时长分成”主要依据 Premium 会员的游玩时间发放，间接倒逼开发者设计诱导沉迷与高强度的刷取循环。劳动权益学者 Ty Underwood 警告，少数脱颖而出的头部创作者转化为拥有雇员的专业工作室后，其立场已与底层创作者割裂，瓦解了集体行动的可能。一名匿名头部开发者坦言，大量未成年开发者在缺乏健康行业常识的情况下盲目高强度加班并最终耗尽心力。此外，年轻创作者的创意极易被资本更雄厚的大型团队快速抄袭并用广告流量压制。由于开发依赖专有的 Luau 语言与 Roblox Studio，代码与技术资产完全无法迁移到外部引擎或分发至 Steam 等应用商店，造成严重的技术锁定。鉴于未成年劳动者无法自发组建工会维权，Underwood 主张应引入外部法规，禁止面向儿童为主的平台在体验内开放数字销售与变现功能。调查总结认为，作为受信托责任约束的上市公司，Roblox 缺乏主动发起内部改革以保障年轻开发者福祉的动力；只要数十万未成年人持续提供免费创意与劳动以维持平台生态，公司便会继续最大化榨取价值，唯有依靠强有力的外部法律规制才能从根本上扭转这一剥削机制。

Detailed notes — zh

## Background 本视频由调查类独立媒体频道 People Make Games 于 2021 年 8 月 19 日在 YouTube 平台发布，由 Quintin Smith 撰稿并主持。视频简介指出，随着 Roblox Corporation 的市值突破 450 亿美元，调查重点聚焦于制作该平台绝大多数内容的未成年儿童是否正在遭受严重的商业剥削。 ## TL;DR 该调查深度剖析了市值高达数百亿美元的 Roblox 如何通过“创造财富”的造富神话，诱导数百万未成年玩家转化为免费或极低成本的劳动者。平台不仅在曝光机制上设置障碍、强迫开发者投入虚拟代币 Robux 进行竞价赌博，更通过严苛的提现门槛、强制付费订阅以及极度不公的双重汇率，复刻了已被现代法律禁止的“公司代券”剥削模式。在平台资本主义的驱动下，微薄的分成被账面扩张成本进一步压缩，使得 99.9% 的未成年开发者分文未赚并深陷生态锁定，而 Roblox 则在缺乏监管的真空中持续吸取年轻群体的剩余价值。 ## Atmosphere & style 整部调查洋溢着严肃、尖锐且极具正义感的批判氛围，主持人 Quintin Smith 的语调沉稳有力却难掩内心的义愤。通过严密的财务数据推理、劳工历史对比以及对 11 岁稚嫩开发者的现实访谈，节目构筑起一种强烈的荒诞感与心酸感——一边是资本市场千亿美元级的造富狂欢，另一边则是连中学都未毕业的孩子在数字作坊里徒劳打工。层层抽丝剥茧的叙事让人感到压抑而清醒，彻底撕碎了硅谷科技神话裹挟在儿童游戏外衣下的温情伪装。 ## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=0s) Roblox 上市估值超过 410 亿美元、拥有约 2 亿月活跃用户，但平台核心内容高度依赖未成年开发者，其实际分成远低于传统数字商店标准。 - [07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=421s) 平台通过双重汇率与严苛门槛限制创作者提现：开发者须攒满 10 万 Robux 并每月支付 5 美元会员费，最终每 1 美元预订额流向开发者的实际报酬仅约 17 美分。 - [04:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=257s) Roblox 内部缺乏自然曝光机制，新开发者被迫以虚拟代币竞价购买广告，陷入胜率极低的获客赌博中。 - [18:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1115s) 专有引擎与代码资产的高度锁定让年轻开发者无法迁移成果，学者呼吁出台顶层法律法规，禁止以儿童为主要受众的平台推行游戏内变现模式。 ## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=0s) Roblox 拥有 2,000 万个‘体验’项目与 2 亿月活用户，其庞大商业帝国的核心是让儿童与青少年为其他儿童制作游戏。 - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=0s) 对比 Steam 30% 及 Epic 12% 的抽成比例，Roblox 官方宣称给开发者分成 24.5%，但通过各项规则削减后的实际分成比例远低于此。 - [02:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=148s) 官方网站、教程乃至学校教案大肆鼓吹‘制作游戏赚取巨额现金’，将普通未成年玩家诱导为抱有发财幻想的无保障劳工。 - [04:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=257s) 平台前台展示长期被头部约 1,000 款热门作品垄断，缺乏新品推荐机制，绝大多数小创作者的实际收入精确为 0 元。 - [04:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=257s) 开发者想要获得流量，只能用法币充值 Robux 参与站内广告位的竞价拍卖，形成了平台收取‘推广税’的闭环。 - [07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=421s) 提现机制设置了 100,000 Robux（等值约 1,000 美元）的高门槛及每月 5 美元的会员订阅费，使大量中小型开发者的劳动报酬沦为平台数字死钱。 - [07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=421s) Robux 兑换法币存在严重的双重汇率剪刀差，10 万代币提现时瞬间缩水至 350 美元，官方财务数据显示开发者实际提现额仅占预订额的约 17%。 - [07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=421s) Roblox 的代币变现逻辑与历史上矿场压榨工人的‘公司代券’制度高度一致，利用封闭内部代币削弱劳动者议价能力并强制内部消费。 - [11:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=682s) 所谓‘连年亏损、无钱可分’是平台资本主义的伪装，公司将现金流用于全球激进扩张和构筑垄断壁垒，刻意压制开发者分成。 - [13:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=808s) 平台算法与‘基于体验的报酬’分红机制全面偏向头部成熟团队，变相激励开发者制作高成瘾性产品，个体小开发者几乎没有翻身机会。 - [15:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=956s) 头部开发者已转型为雇佣他人的老板，导致创作者群体利益分化，无法形成有组织的劳工联合来争取权益。 - [15:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=956s) 未成年创作者即便做出爆款创意，也极易遭到成年专业团队在美术与买量上的全方位抄袭和降维打击。 - [18:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1115s) 高度专有化的工具链与 Lua 脚本生态导致严重的生态锁定，开发者在平台沉淀的技术与代码资产无法迁移至外部独立游戏市场。 - [18:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1115s) 劳工学者与业界呼吁摒弃不切实际的未成年人工会设想，应直接通过强制立法禁止以儿童为主要受众的平台进行游戏内变现，以根除剥削土壤。 ## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=0s) Roblox 的惊人估值与极低的分成比例调查由作者 Quintin Smith 了解到的关于 Roblox 的三项惊人事实展开。作为当今在欧美最火爆的电子游戏，Roblox 每月拥有约 2 亿活跃用户，且绝大多数是年轻人。严格来说，它更像是一个庞大的创作平台与门户，里面充斥着海量各类型、操作手感略显飘忽或粗糙的多人游戏。因为平台提供免费的工具和服务器托管，任何人都可以在上面制作游戏并进行变现。对比 Steam 平台上近 5.5 万款游戏，Roblox 托管了超过 2,000 万个“体验”（experiences）——之所以称为“体验”，是由于法律层面的考量，Roblox 无法在苹果的 App Store 中公然宣称自己销售游戏，否则就会变成“应用商店内的游戏商店”。令作者感到震惊的三个核心事实彻底颠覆了人们对该平台的认知： 1. **开发者获得的分成极其微薄**：在传统 PC 市场，Steam 因抽成 30% 常遭诟病，而 Epic 和微软商店仅抽成 12%；Roblox 官方宣称开发者能获得约 24.5% 的销售分成，但实际情况甚至远低于这个数字。 2. **惊人的资本市场估值**：Roblox 于 2021 年上市时，市值达到 410 亿美元（介于任天堂与 EA 之间，相当于 7 个育碧）。 3. **平台依赖未成年人进行游戏开发**：正如 Roblox 营销副总裁 Tami Bhaumik 所言： > “From the very beginning, it was about having kids develop games for other kids.” 作者指出，这些孩子并非单纯出于兴趣在玩耍，他们付出的真实劳动正在支撑着游戏历史上估值最高的一批发行商之一。然而，在分成比例仅为行业标准三分之一、且毫无劳动健康保障的环境下，这引发了一个严肃的拷问：下一代游戏开发者是否在读完中学之前，就已经遭到了严重的剥削？ - 平台月活跃用户：约 2 亿（以儿童及青少年为主） - 平台内容总量：超过 2,000 万个体验项目 - 行业抽成对比：Steam 抽成 30%，Epic/微软抽成 12%，Roblox 宣称给创作者留 24.5%（实际更低） - 上市估值：410 亿美元（市值等同于 7 个 Ubisoft） --- ### [02:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=148s) 创业幻象：如何将未成年玩家诱导为劳动者在剖析 Roblox 如何对待平台创作者之前，必须先看清它是如何将年幼的玩家逐步转化为劳动者的。Roblox 的工具无需复杂的 3D 建模门槛，同时免除托管费用并负责玩家内容审核。但纯粹免费创作并不能为平台带来收益，反而由于高昂的服务器支出而让公司亏钱。因此，当 9 至 15 岁的核心受众进入游戏后，他们立刻就会被包裹在“成为一名创业者”的狂热宣传中。在 Roblox 体系内，普通的游玩过程不可避免地会让其他用户赚到钱——你需要购买游戏通行证（Passes）和角色装扮。打开官网首页，顶部导航栏简单粗暴地分为：寻找游戏、购买装扮、以及“自己动手制作”。一旦孩子们点击制作页面，扑面而来的便是极具诱惑力的口号：“创造一切”（Make Anything）、“触达数百万玩家”（Reach Millions of Players）以及“赚取巨额现金”（Earn Serious Cash），并辅以煽动性文案：“像你一样的创作者，正在通过做自己热爱的事获得报酬。” 此外，Roblox 官方 YouTube 频道充斥着对低龄成功开发者的纪录片专访，公关部门不遗余力地神化年少成名的案例；官方教程与技术支持网站默认创作者的最终目的就是变现；甚至在面向学校教育者的专用网站（education.roblox.com）上，教案中也公然包含了“如何在 Roblox 中赚钱”的课程。一位接受采访的 11 岁小开发者坦言： > “I saw other big games, I saw other developers getting money in a way that looked easy.” --- ### [04:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=257s) 严苛的市场机制与虚妄的推广黑洞尽管 Steam 上的独立游戏平均还能赚取几千美元，但在 Roblox 的 2,000 万个体验中，绝大多数创作者的收入其实是精确的 0 元。要理解这种极端的差距，就必须看透其扑朔迷离的市场曝光机制。制作一款游戏在技术上并不难，但要让它被其他人玩到并“触达数百万玩家”，难度犹如登天。 Roblox 的游戏发现系统极为闭塞，在 2,000 万款体验中，前台展示的基本只有当前在线人数最高的前 1,000 款左右。平台不仅没有展示最新作品的新品推荐机制，甚至连所谓的“上升期”（Up and coming）分区里推荐的也全都是已经拥有数千名同时在线玩家的作品。摆在年轻开发者面前的只有两条路：要么费尽心机去求 YouTube 主播或 Twitch 主播试玩，要么花真金白银向 Roblox 购买广告。为了购买站内广告，开发者必须将法定货币兑换为虚拟代币 Robux。广告位的竞价完全依赖 Robux 拍卖机制，开发者在论坛讨论中普遍将其视作一场胜率极低的赌博，寄希望于用巨额代币换来的广告流量能够将游戏顶入平台算法的热门浪潮中。这构成了极其讽刺的双重面孔：平台首先向孩子们画饼“来赚大钱”，接着又改口暗示“如果你想有人玩，那就得掏钱给我们打广告”。一位接受采访的专业 Roblox 开发者对此表达了悲观的看法： > “I don't think it's really possible for young developers to succeed on the platform anymore. It's really hard to get into those top 200 games.” 该开发者进一步将制作 Roblox 游戏比作在 TikTok 上博取病毒式传播，容错率极低：整个生态里唯一的受众就是儿童，一旦核心玩法闭环没有百分之百踩中这群人的痛点，前期投入就将全盘皆输。 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Roblox 曝光获客与广告循环 accDescr: 展示新开发者在缺乏自然发现机制下被迫投入 Robux 参与广告竞价赌博的流程 subgraph DiscoveryGap["发现机制缺失"] A["创作完成 2000 万体验之一"] --> B["前台仅展示约 1000 款头部大作"] B --> C{"是否具备自然曝光度？"} C -- "无曝光机制" --> D["零玩家访问 / 零收入"] end subgraph PromotionPath["推广死局"] D --> E["法币兑换 Robux"] E --> F["参与广告位竞价拍卖"] F --> G{"能否搏中爆款算法？"} G -- "赌博失败" --> D G -- "极低概率成功" --> H["跻身头部行列产生内购"] end ``` --- ### [07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=421s) 兑现高墙与双重汇率：现代版“公司代券” 就算开发者的游戏万幸突破了重围成为小爆款，迎来了成千上万愿意消费 Robux 的玩家，真正的提现陷阱才刚刚开始。Roblox 首先从每笔游戏内交易中抽取 30% 的抽成，剩下的收益则以 Robux 形式发给开发者。由于 Robux 无法直接在现实中使用，想要将其转入银行账户，开发者会遭遇一系列严苛的提现限制： - **巨额提现门槛**：最低提现额度为 100,000 Robux（按购买力价值约合 1,000 美元）。如果创作者赚取了等值 900 美元的代币，现实中拿到的真实报酬就是 0 美元。 - **强制订阅会员**：提现者必须每月向 Roblox 支付 5 美元的 Premium 会员月费，否则根本不具备提现资格。 - **行业常规对比**：以真实货币为基础的网游《Entropia Universe》最低提现门槛为 100 美元，而《Second Life》（第二人生）的提现门槛仅为 10 美元。如此苛刻的提现门槛迫使大量无法达标的开发者将代币滞留在系统内，反向用于购买其他游戏、装扮，或为下一款游戏的广告竞价买单；许多开发者甚至用 Robux 雇佣其他开发者，而平台在他们互相转账支付工资时还会再次抽取佣金。更具杀伤力的是平台的“双重汇率”。Roblox 卖给玩家 Robux 的价格，与它回购创作者手中 Robux 的价格存在天壤之别。当开发者攒齐 100,000 Robux 申请提现时，换回的不是 1,000 美元，而是被腰斩至仅剩 350 美元。一旦提现就会发生断崖式贬值，这进一步遏制了现金外流。根据 Roblox 官方的财务记录，平台每获得 1 美元的预订额（Bookings），最终流出生态进入开发者口袋的仅有 17 美分左右。平台的不透明度甚至让全职全职从业多年的资深开发者都感到困惑，一位专业开发者无奈地指出： > “Like, you just have to roughly estimate it based off of those exchange rates and that's all you get.” | 环节 / 机制 | 规则与行业对比 | 造成的直接后果 | |:--- |:--- |:--- | | **基础交易抽成** | 平台首先扣除 30% 收益 | 开发者拿到的是虚拟代币 Robux 而非法币 | | **最低提现门槛** | 必须攒满 100,000 Robux（购买价值 ~$1000） 对比：《Second Life》仅需 $10 | 不足 1,000 美元的劳动完全无法变现，直接沦为平台数字死钱 | | **提现前置成本** | 必须按月缴纳 $5 的 Premium 订阅费 | 想要拿回劳动报酬必须先向平台倒贴订阅费 | | **双重汇率剪刀差** | 提现时 100,000 Robux 仅能兑换 $350 | 资产在提现瞬间贬值近 65%，迫使代币在平台内内卷循环 | | **生态资金沉淀** | 每获得 $1 预订额，开发者实际提现仅约 17 美分 | 实际分成比例远低于官方宣称的 24.5% | 作者强调，当前科技行业缺乏监管，导致历史上许多已经被定性为违法的手段得以改头换面卷土重来。Roblox 发放 Robux 的机制，与美国历史上采矿场和伐木营地使用的“公司代券”（Company Scrip）毫无二致。公司代券是一种完全由资方私自印发、只能在矿场营地内部商店使用的代币，其运作逻辑与 Roblox 如出一辙： 1. **强制内部消费**：工人的收入只能在公司自营店花掉，财富直接回流给资方； 2. **剥夺反抗能力**：工人因惧怕公司没收其代币使用权、扣押工资而不敢反抗规章； 3. **制造离职壁垒**：工人一旦离职，手里的代券立刻变得一文不值。即便某些矿区设有代券兑换法币的兑换点，其兑换汇率也极度不公，专门用来压榨工人。这种严重剥削工人劳动权益的代券制度，在历史上最终遭到了法律的明令禁止，如今却在 Roblox 的数字乐园中换上新装，堂而皇之地向未成年人推行。 ### [11:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=682s) 平台资本主义与所谓的“不盈利”神话在官方论坛上，年轻开发者们经常成群结队地请求——更准确地说是恳求——更公平的分成比例。然而面对这些诉求，Roblox 官方通常只会给出冷漠、充满公关辞令的回应，强行终结对话。与此同时，社区中常有一种声音为平台辩护：Roblox 从未实现过盈利，公司每年都在亏损，因此根本没有多余的钱分给开发者。主持人 Quintin Smith 直斥这种说法完全是胡说八道。市场分析师对 Roblox 的估值已经相当于“七个育碧（seven Ubisofts）”，断言这家印钞机般的大公司“没钱可分”是极其荒谬的。Roblox 实际践行的是与 Spotify、Uber、Airbnb 相同的“平台资本主义”（platform capitalism）模式：通过不可持续的激进扩张，不断打入新国家、雇佣更多员工、推高开支，直到完全垄断细分市场及其数据，再利用垄断地位赚取暴利（正如 Facebook 和亚马逊所做的那样）。如果 Roblox 不在账面上连年亏损，投资人反而会质疑为什么没有把所有资金拿去扩张。因此，即便拥有 2 亿月活跃用户、首席执行官早已身家数十亿美元，Roblox 留给开发者的分成依然少得可怜——因为多分给开发者一分钱，就意味着少了一分用来扩张平台、构筑垄断壁垒的资金。针对虐待年轻开发者的质疑，People Make Games 曾联系 Roblox Corporation 寻求置评或采访，但未获得任何回应。 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 平台资本主义扩张循环 accDescr: 展示Roblox如何通过再投资与扩张构筑垄断，导致没有资金分给开发者 subgraph CapitalModel ["平台资本主义运作模式"] A["营收与外部融资注入"] --> B["激进扩张：开拓海外与招募团队"] B --> C["推高账面运营成本 （制造账面持续亏损）"] C --> D["压制开发者分成 （声称'没有多余利润'）"] D --> E["数据垄断与掌控整个生态"] E --> A end ``` - **估值对比**：市场分析师对 Roblox 的估值一度高达 450 亿美元以上，折合超过七家育碧公司的市值总和。 - **用户规模**：在声称无钱可分的同期，平台拥有超过 2 亿的月活跃用户（MAU）。 --- ### [13:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=808s) 11岁开发者的残酷现实与赢家通吃格局为了让冷冰冰的数据具象化，调查采访了一名 11 岁的开发者 Emil。Emil 说服父母送自己参加了专门学习 Roblox 编程的夏令营，并独自开发上线了一款游戏。然而游戏彻底失败了，这让他说出了一番宛如饱经风霜的 30 岁行业老兵才会说的话：“Even though Roblox encourages you to make games, the likelihood of you making a successful game is basically zero.”（尽管 Roblox 鼓励你去制作游戏，但你能做出一款成功游戏的几率基本为零。） Emil 还在纸上画图向主持人解释大团队与小开发者之间的悬殊鸿沟：资金雄厚的大型团队能够源源不断地获得成功，用户量呈现出一个又一个巨大的波峰，即便波峰回落也会再次反弹，陷入向上波动的无限循环；而个人小开发者即便侥幸迎来一次小高峰，一旦数据跌入谷底，就再也无法翻身。Emil 甚至没有多余的 Robux 去为自己的游戏投放广告。Roblox 的平台算法只推荐那些本就拥有海量粉丝的热门作品，而官方乐于见到极少数头部开发者赚走绝大部分收益。因为头部开发者能借此全职投入、组建团队、更新内容甚至成为明星，成为吸引新玩家的招牌。近年来 Roblox 唯一一次增加开发者分成的举措是推出“基于体验的报酬”（Experience-Based Payouts）——按 Premium 订阅玩家的游玩时长给头部游戏分红。这无异于变相鼓励开发者去制作令人上瘾而非真正有趣的游戏。 --- ### [15:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=956s) 无法联合的“工头”与虚妄的童工造富梦游戏学教授兼劳工活动家 Ty Underwood 指出了头部造星机制背后的劳工控制本质。他将 Roblox 与 YouTube 类比：许多原本的内容创作者在获得巨大流量后，都转型成了雇佣员工的“老板”。Ty Underwood 指出：“You can't organise bosses. Their interests do not align with workers. The worker's power comes from their ability to stop production, and all bosses everywhere it is against their interest to stop production.”（你无法把老板们组织起来搞工运。他们的利益与劳动者并不一致。劳动者的力量源于停工停产的能力，而对全天下所有的老板而言，停产都违背他们的自身利益。）一位匿名接受采访的超大型 Roblox 顶流开发者坦言，虽然平台存在很多合理批评，但由于与官方有良好的合作关系，不能公开露面发声。该开发者建议年轻创作者不要在缺少劳动保护意识的情况下过度加班、透支健康，并直言平台上有数百万个体验，只有极少数能跻身头部，应当放低预期。然而作为上市公司，Roblox 负有为股东实现利润最大化的法律责任。哄骗成千上万的孩子相信自己能赚大钱，诱使他们充当免费劳动力、将所有创造力和精力投入平台，这对 Roblox 的利益毫无损害。即使 99.9% 的年轻人都以失败告终、分文未赚，也不会影响公司的财报底线。曾参加官方实习项目的 Genya 透露，他所在的整期班级里只有他一个人真正上线了游戏，且仅有一款达到 7000 人在线；即便有未成年神童做出了爆款玩法，成熟的成年人团队也可以轻而易举地抄袭创意、优化美术并砸钱宣发，将其据为己有。 --- ### [18:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1115s) 生态锁定、剥削本质与监管困境年轻开发者在看清残酷真相之前，早已在这个封闭生态中完成了技能培训，而这导致了严重的沉没成本与生态锁定（Vendor Lock-in）。如果是在 Steam 平台上开发，开发者理论上还可以把游戏转移到 Epic Games Store 或移植到苹果平台；但在 Roblox 内部，从代码逻辑、工具链到游戏资产都高度特殊化，开发者根本无法将自己的心血或技术迁移到外部世界。 Quintin Smith 愤怒地指出，如果 Roblox 真正关心年轻人，它本可以成为游戏行业的一桩美事——提供免费工具让孩子们自由摆弄、开发游戏给朋友免费游玩。但免费玩具不能带来巨额利润，真正让 Roblox 赚得盆满钵满的，是把未成年人变成怀揣不切实际期望的劳工，而这种雇佣关系如果发生在现实线下世界中完全是非法的。 ```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Roblox生态锁定与外部平台对比 accDescr: 对比传统PC平台的游戏资产可迁移性与Roblox高度封闭的专有锁定 subgraph TraditionalPlatform ["传统开放平台生态"] direction TB T1["通用游戏引擎开发"] --> T2["Steam / Epic / 移动端"] T2 --> T3["代码与技能全行业通用 拥有完整数字资产"] end subgraph RobloxPlatform ["Roblox封闭生态"] direction TB R1["专有工具与Lua环境"] --> R2["锁定在Roblox平台"] R2 --> R3["代码无法向外移植 劳动成果完全归属平台"] end ``` 谈及应对措施，Ty Underwood 教授直言，试图在儿童群体中推行劳工组织和工会化是极度脱离现实的荒谬命题，向未成年人解释劳资冲突都极其困难。他主张采取强制的顶层法律监管：“I think the answer in this case is it should simply be regulated that Roblox cannot have people sell within their games if their audience is largely children.”（我认为在这种情况下，解决办法只能是通过法规明令禁止：只要受众主要是儿童，Roblox 就不得允许人们在游戏内进行销售变现。）11 岁的 Emil 也表达了自己的朴素看法：可以鼓励孩子们开发，但不应该对他们撒谎说这很容易，因为事实根本并非如此。然而可以确定的是，Roblox 绝不会主动出台任何影响自身吸金能力的自我约束，只要缺乏监管，这家商业巨头就会继续榨取年轻、脆弱群体的剩余价值。视频最后，Quintin 呼吁观众积极转发以形成舆论监督压力，并感谢了支持频道深度调查报道的 Patreon 赞助者们。 ## Notable quotes > [13:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=808s) Even though Roblox encourages you to make games, the likelihood of you making a successful game is basically zero. — Emil > [18:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ&t=1115s) I think the answer in this case is it should simply be regulated that Roblox cannot have people sell within their games if their audience is largely children. — Ty Underwood ## Mentioned Roblox, Roblox Corporation, People Make Games, Quintin Smith, Anni Sayers, Tami Bhaumik, Steam, Epic Games Store, 微软商店, 任天堂, EA, 育碧 (Ubisoft), 苹果 App Store, Robux, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Entropia Universe, Second Life, Spotify, Uber, Airbnb, Facebook, 亚马逊, Emil, Ty Underwood, Genya, Patreon ## Video description With Roblox Corporation now being valued at more than $45 billion, we ask whether the kids making the vast majority of its content are being taken advantage of? Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PeopleMakeGames Written and presented by Quintin Smith: https://twitter.com/Quinns108 Design and art direction by Anni Sayers: https://twitter.com/anni_sayers [Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ)

Source quotes

[13:28] Emil: Even though Roblox encourages you to make games, the likelihood of you making a successful game is basically zero. [18:35] Ty Underwood: I think the answer in this case is it should simply be regulated that Roblox cannot have people sell within their games if their audience is largely children.

Source quotes

[18:04] Quintin Smith: What makes Roblox money is empowering kids into workers with unreasonable expectations of what they can achieve on this platform in a way that would be illegal if it wasn’t happening online [13:28] Emil: Even though Roblox encourages you to make games, the likelihood of you making a successful game is basically zero [19:46] Ty Underwood: it should simply be regulated that Roblox cannot have people sell within their games if their audience is largely children [16:29] Anonymous developer: On Roblox many young devs crunch and burn out... they're not privy to ongoing dev community conversations about healthy working practices [16:29] Anonymous developer: Lower your expectations - there are millions of experiences on Roblox and only a handful become 'top games', make sure to have fun even if only a few people play your game

Original transcript

[0:00] This story began when I learned three stunning things about Roblox. [0:05] If you don’t know much about Roblox, it’s the most popular video game in the US [0:10] and Europe today, played by around 200 million mostly young people every month. Roblox is more [0:17] of a creative platform than a game, though; it’s a downloadable portal to a staggering quantity [0:23] of multiplayer games of all different genres, that are all just a little bit floaty and janky. [0:29] That’s because anyone can download Roblox and use its free tools and free hosting to start making [0:35] and monetising games, and an astonishing number of people have done just that. [0:40] Where today Steam has almost 55,000 games, Roblox hosts more than 20 million experiences, [0:49] which is what Roblox calls games because, legally speaking, the company can’t admit to [0:54] selling games within Apple’s app store, as that would make it a game shop within a game shop. [0:59] So, I learned three things about Roblox that made me do the internet equivalent of a double take. [1:03] One, the developers making all of these experiences earn a cut from [1:07] everything they create -- but that cut is shockingly small. To put it in perspective, [1:13] Steam catches heat from developers for taking 30% percent of each sale while Epic and Microsoft’s [1:19] PC store take 12 percent. Roblox claims that developers receive around 24.5% of any sale, [1:28] although as we’ll soon see, in reality they get even less. [1:33] The second thing I saw? When Roblox went public on the stock market this year, [1:37] it was valued at $41 billion dollars. [1:41] A value somewhere between Nintendo and Electronic Arts. Roblox is now worth SEVEN UBISOFTS. [1:48] And three, in the words of Roblox’s vice president of marketing, Tami Bhaumik, [1:54] “From the very beginning, it was about having kids develop games for other kids.” [1:59] These kids aren’t just hobbyists, they’re doing real work that is [2:04] driving the value of one of the biggest video game publishers in history. But with a cut that’s one [2:11] third of the industry standard and nobody looking out for their health, we had to ask- are the next [2:17] generation of game developers being exploited before they’ve finished secondary school? [2:28] But before we look at how Roblox treats its workers, [2:31] first we have to look at how the platform turns its young users into workers in the first place. [2:36] So the good thing about Roblox - as I've said - is that the tools are free, the hosting's free, [2:41] the tools actually let you skip the traditional learning curve associated [2:44] with 3D modelling. Roblox even handles the moderation of your players for you. [2:49] But people using these tools to just get creative doesn’t make Roblox money, it actually loses them [2:55] money because servers are expensive. Which is why the moment Roblox’s core playerbase of 9 [3:01] to 15 year-olds start playing, they are submerged in this idea that they could be an entrepreneur. [3:09] After all, it’s impossible to play Roblox without making other Roblox users richer, [3:13] because you’re buying passes for their experiences, you’re buying their cosmetics. [3:18] But we’re just getting started. The tabs at the top of Roblox.com are basically find games, [3:23] find cosmetics, and start making stuff yourself. [3:26] But if kids click on that, they see: “Make Anything”, “Reach Millions of Players”, [3:30] and “Earn Serious Cash”. “Creators like you,” it says, “are getting paid for what they love to do.” [3:37] If you go to Roblox’s YouTube channel the first videos you see are documentaries about [3:41] successful game developers. In general Roblox’s PR department loves shining a light on the game’s [3:47] younger success stories. The official Roblox tutorials and the game's support website both [3:53] assume you want help with monetisation. And if you go to education.roblox.com which hosts [3:59] lesson plans for educators, one of the lessons is how to earn money in Roblox. [4:06] Or in the words of one 11 year old I interviewed... [4:09] I saw other big games, I saw other developers getting money in a way that looked easy [4:17] So are any of these kids really “Earning serious cash”? [4:21] Well, while the average indie game on Steam makes several thousand dollars, [4:25] the vast majority of games-- sorry, “experiences” on Roblox earn their creators zero dollars. [4:33] To understand why that is, we need to take a closer look at the Roblox marketplace. Because [4:37] it took me WEEKS to get my head around this. I'll [4:40] let you decide for yourself what chance you think kids have of understanding it. [4:44] So making a game in Roblox is easy. It’s when you want other people to play it, to reach [4:50] the millions of players that Roblox promised, that your journey will start heading uphill. [4:55] If you want to figure out what to play on Roblox, [4:58] it only shows the thousand or so games out of its 20 million that have the most players right now. [5:04] There are no discoverability tools that let you see the newest games, or to help new designers. [5:09] The “Up and coming” section still shows games with thousands of players. So if you’re a kid trying to [5:15] make games for Roblox you have two choices at this point. You can hustle and try and get your [5:20] game in front of streamers or YouTubers.... or you can pay Roblox to advertise it. [5:27] But to buy anything in Roblox, you first have to convert your real money to the company’s [5:31] virtual currency: Robux. Developers on Roblox bid with Robux for ad slots in [5:38] an auction, a system that is discussed by developers in forum threads as a gamble, [5:43] with developers hoping that with the right game and the right ad, they’ll grab enough [5:48] players that their game ends up surfacing in the churning froth of the Roblox marketplace. [5:54] So the first thing Roblox tells its young developers is “Make anything! Reach millions [5:58] of players! Earn serious cash!” And then the next thing it says is: “Oh. I mean, [6:03] if you want people to actually play your game, I guess you could give us money.” [6:07] But as duplicitous as this sounds, we know it works because Roblox has 20 million experiences [6:14] made by its mostly young audience. Even though when I spoke to professional Roblox developers, [6:18] they told me that kids should not expect to make money on the platform. [6:24] I don't think it's really possible for young developers to succeed [6:27] on the platform anymore. It's really hard to get into those top 200 games. [6:32] Sometimes I think of making Roblox games as trying to make a viral TikTok or a viral meme. [6:37] It's pretty tricky. There's only really one [6:40] big market to shoot for in Roblox right now and that's kids. If you don't hit [6:45] that demographic just right and if you don't get your gameplay loop just right, you fail. [6:50] Later in this video we’ll get to why it benefits Roblox corporation [6:54] to have hundreds of thousands of children trying to make games, [6:58] ignorant of the fact that the odds are actually stacked against them. [7:01] But first, let’s go back to that question [7:03] of why it’s so hard to make money on the Roblox marketplace because.. we’re not done! [7:08] Let’s imagine you actually made a game that beats the odds and becomes a small hit, [7:12] and now your game has thousands of players who are making in-experience purchases with [7:16] Robux. Roblox takes a 30% cut of every transaction on their platform, [7:21] and then you actually get paid the rest in... robux. Which of course isn’t real money, you [7:28] can only spend it in Roblox. You wanna get paid! You wanna withdraw that money as actual cash. [7:34] Now here’s the bit that I think is just super shady. [7:39] If any Roblox user wants to take robux back out of their account and put it in [7:43] their bank account as actual currency, the minimum withdrawal amount is 100,000 [7:50] robux, valued at around $1000 USD. If you make $900 USD worth of robux selling stuff you’ve made, [7:58] your real-life paycheck will be $0. Oh, and also? You can’t withdraw any money from Roblox unless [8:04] you’re also paying Roblox for a monthly premium subscription ($5/month). [8:08] Now let me make this abundantly clear. This is a choice that Roblox corporation has made. Entropia [8:16] Universe, the world’s only cash-based MMO which we did a video on last year, [8:19] has a minimum withdrawal amount of $100. Second Life has a minimum withdrawal amount of $10. [8:26] In making the minimum withdrawal amount so high, Roblox is increasing the chance [8:31] that you won’t hit that cap and so will just plough their robux back into Roblox, [8:36] whether that’s buying games or cosmetics, or saving up to advertise your next game. Lots of [8:41] Roblox developers even use their robux to pay other Roblox developers to work on their game. [8:46] And if they’re not smart about how they pay these developers, [8:49] Roblox will take a cut of that paycheck, too. But for now let’s imagine you make a game and [8:54] it’s a hit and you do make it to 100,000 robux, so you're allowed to withdraw it, [9:00] finally, to your real life bank account. You see Roblox buys robux from users at a very different [9:06] rate than it sells them. So withdrawing 100,000 robux doesn’t get you $1000, it gets you $350. [9:15] Think about it- If your assets in Roblox become substantially devalued only at the moment you [9:20] take them out of the platform, why not keep them on the platform in case you need them one day? [9:25] And so tons of Robux don’t ever make it out off the platform, instead going [9:30] round and round, with Roblox taking cut after cut. [9:34] And so, while on paper developers get that 24.5% of a game's sales, in reality is even lower. [9:41] If we look at Roblox’s published records we can read that for every $1 Roblox earns in bookings, [9:48] only 17 cents make it out of the ecosystem to developers. [9:53] Or at least, that’s my best guess as to what developers are getting. The platform [9:57] is actually so opaque that even full time, professional devs who've been doing this for years [10:03] do not know what fraction of the pie they're taking home. [10:06] Like, you just have to roughly estimate it based off of those [10:09] exchange rates and that's all you get. [10:11] And by the way? The lack of regulation in today’s tech sector is causing a lot of [10:16] historically illegal practices coming back again with a new lick of paint. [10:20] Roblox paying people in robux is very, very similar to historical [10:25] mining and logging camps in the United States paying people in company scrip. [10:30] Scrip was currency invented and manufactured by these companies that could only be used [10:36] to buy things within the company's camp. For example, in the stores that they would build. [10:41] The mining camps liked paying people with their own invented money for the same reasons Roblox [10:45] does. One, it means workers spend their money at the company, which makes the company richer. Two, [10:51] workers become more afraid of breaking company rules because the company can [10:55] take away your ability to spend your scrip, essentially confiscating your paycheck. [11:00] And three, scrip makes it harder for workers to walk quit their job because the moment they do [11:05] they get poorer. Unbelievably, these camps would have booths where you could exchange [11:10] your scrip for US dollars, but the exchange rate hurt the worker. Just like Roblox. [11:17] Scrip so messes with workers’ ability to make money that it was banned in [11:22] the United States in 1938 and until we legislate scrip again in the digital age, [11:27] Roblox is going to keep paying developers with pretend money. [11:31] Now when the question of whether Roblox is treating its designers fairly comes up? And [11:37] it does come up, you can find long threads on the official Roblox forums ofdevelopers banding [11:41] together to request, or beg, really, for a more fair profit share.. you’ll always see the same [11:47] two things. You'll see Roblox posting a super corporate and disinterested response [11:52] that sort of ends the discussion without having it, but you also see people saying [11:56] that devs asking for more money is silly because Roblox has never been a profitable [12:02] company. It loses money every single year and so there’s no extra money to give out. [12:08] That is bollocks. But don’t take my word for it, take the word of the market analysts [12:13] who have decided that as a money-making machine Roblox is worth SEVEN UBISOFTS. [12:19] The idea that this company has no more money to hand out is a repulsive one. Roblox is just doing [12:27] the same thing as companies like Spotify, Uber and AirBnB, something known as platform capitalism. [12:34] All of these companies and Roblox have a business model based on unsustainable [12:38] expansion, always moving into more countries, hiring more staff, [12:41] increasing their expenses, until they control the entire market sector and all of its data [12:47] and can use this monopoly to make incredible money, as we saw with Facebook and Amazon. [12:54] If Roblox WASN’T losing money year after year its investors [12:57] could reasonably turn around and say “Why not?” [13:01] And so when Roblox developers come around cap in hand asking for more revenue, [13:04] there’s never any left. Even though the platform has 200 MILLION monthly users, [13:09] and the CEO is a billionaire. Because if Roblox were to give more money to game developers, [13:13] that’s simply less money it can spend growing the platform and becoming a monopoly. [13:19] Wee reached out to Roblox Corporation for an [13:21] interview or comment on how they treat their young developers.. [13:24] They did not reply to us. [13:28] Let’s take a moment to put a human face on all this. [13:31] Was it harder than you expected to make money with your levels? [13:35] That is definitely a big yes. [13:38] This is Emil. Emil is 11. And he got his parents to send him to a special summer camp where he [13:43] could learn to code for Roblox. And he made a game all by himself! And the game flopped, [13:49] and he ended up sounding like a 30 year old industry veteran in an 11 year old's body. [13:54] Even though Roblox encourages you to [13:57] make games, the likelihood of you making a successful game is basically zero. [14:03] You always compete with the people that have [14:06] lots of money and like... would it be a problem if I showed you something? [14:10] No, please, show me whatever you like. [14:12] This is like a big game developer that has lots of success. The amount of people that they have [14:19] means that they get the successes, and that means they get a giant spike, and even if the spike [14:25] lowers they still go back up and it's just an infinite cycle of spikes that just go up and down. [14:30] But your small game developer, you'll have that spike, you come all the way down... you stay down. [14:39] Were you tempted to spend robux advertising your game after you made it? [14:44] I didn’t even have robux but I wish I did because then I could advertise it and maybe have a chance. [14:49] Emil’s disappointment wasn't to do with whether Roblox's revenue split was fair, he [14:53] hadn't really thought about that concept. He was [14:55] just upset that Roblox only shows its users games that have tons of fans. [15:00] But the thing is, Roblox corporation benefits from [15:03] making a very small fraction of its developers almost all of the money [15:07] because then those devs can then keep updating their popular game, or make new games, [15:12] they can go full time and hire people to work for them, they can even become celebrities. [15:18] I wanted to make this video to really tell you my story and [15:21] give you my honest thoughts on the 8th annual Bloxy Awards. [15:24] And interestingly, the ONLY concession Roblox has made in recent years to giving developers [15:30] more money is to give the most successful developers on the platform even more money. [15:34] Experience-Based Payouts is a new sliver of Roblox’s revenue [15:38] that goes to the games that Roblox subscribers play for the longest. [15:43] This also Roblox corporation tacitly encouraging its developers to make games [15:47] that are addictive rather than fun. But the way that Robloxs encourages its users [15:52] to make games that are manipulative would be a whole other video and I’m gonna stay on topic. [15:56] Here’s games professor and labor activist Ty Underwood on why Roblox would be trying [16:01] to empower its most successful developers and ensure the rest have no power at all. [16:07] Comparing it to YouTube, you and I know of many YT channels where it's like "Oh, I'm actually a [16:12] boss with employees now." And so are all the top Roblox games. You can't organise bosses. [16:18] Their interests do not align with workers. The worker's power comes from their ability to stop [16:24] production, and all bosses everywhere it is against their interest to stop production. [16:29] That does track with my experience. I reached out to one extraordinarily [16:33] successful Roblox developer for this piece and they did agree to speak to me [16:37] on the condition that we didn't reveal their identity, saying quote: [16:41] “Despite some fair criticisms we have a good working relationship with Roblox and I wouldn't [16:46] necessarily want to be directly featured or quoted in a video critical of their platform cut." [16:52] I asked that same anonymous developer what [16:54] message they’d like to get out to young developers. They told me... [16:58] “On Roblox many young devs crunch and burn out... they're not privy [17:02] to ongoing dev community conversations about healthy working practices... My advice would [17:06] be to not over-work. Don't feel pressured to work long days especially as a young person.” [17:12] And “Lower your expectations - there are millions of experiences on Roblox and only [17:17] a handful become 'top games', make sure to have fun even if only a few people play your game.” [17:23] There’s just one problem about getting these messages out to young game developers. Roblox [17:28] is a publicly traded company now, which means it has a legal obligation to maximise profits. [17:34] And kids working too hard with unreasonable expectations isn’t bad for the company. [17:40] And this is the heart of Roblox's success. In convincing its young users that making money on [17:45] the platform is possible, its gets hundreds of thousands of free workers pouring all of their [17:50] imagination and spirit into inventing the next big Roblox success story. And while by my estimation [17:56] 99.9% of them flame out and make no money at all, that doesn’t affect Roblox’ bottom line one bit. [18:04] Here’s Genya again talking about his experience in the Roblox official internship program. [18:09] For instance in my class I was the only person who released a game, [18:12] and that game was the only game from the whole class that actually did well, [18:16] and we had like 7000 people online. So it’s kind of rare for those games to actually work. [18:22] But then if some young wunderkind does make the nest great thing on Roblox there is [18:27] nothing to stop an older team of developers taking the idea, refining it, [18:31] re-releasing it and then advertising it. [18:35] But whether young developers find success on Roblox or not, the platform benefits [18:39] from young developers training themselves up before they realise the odds are stacked [18:43] against them. And once they've done that, they're that much less likely to walk away. [18:48] You can’t take your game anywhere else. If I’m on Steam, theoretically [18:52] I can move my game to Epic or try to make a deal with Apple, or something like that. But [18:59] once you’re in Roblox it’s impossible to extract your game or your work or [19:03] even your skills from Roblox, because it’s such an idiosyncratic system to work with. [19:08] And this is all so infuriating for me because if Roblox was actually operating with care for [19:13] its young audience, it could just be a great thing for the games industry. [19:18] Free tools to get kids messing around and making stuff, that their friends can come and play, [19:21] also for free? That’s awesome. That anonymous developer who spoke to me said that they wish [19:27] Roblox was around when they were a kid and trying and failing to make games in flash. [19:32] But that's not what makes Roblox money. What makes Roblox money is empowering [19:36] kids into workers with unreasonable expectations of what they can achieve [19:41] on this platform in a way that would be illegal if it wasn’t happening online. [19:46] So what can we do about this? [19:49] The question of whether or not it’s possible to do labour organising with children productively is a [19:56] really bizarre question. With much older young adults I’m only now introducing the idea that [20:04] your boss may have interests that diverge from your own in some cases, and this is mindblowing. [20:11] I think the answer in this case is it should simply be regulated that Roblox cannot [20:18] have people sell within their games if their audience is largely children. That’s not [20:24] usually what I reach for because top-down regulation doesn’t build worker power, but [20:29] in this case... they’re kids, is what's going on here! It’s a very weird and scary situation. [20:36] And what about Emil, our 11 year old game developer? What does he think should be done? [20:41] Do you think kids should be encouraged to try and sell things on Roblox? [20:45] I think that kids should be encouraged, [20:48] by they shouldn't be lied to about how easy it is because it's not easy. [20:54] But the one thing that we know for sure is that Roblox isn’t going to legislate itself in a way [20:59] that affects its ability to earn money. Roblox is going to continue doing anything it can to scratch [21:06] revenue out of its young, vulnerable audience, no matter whether they’re getting fair pay, [21:11] whether it’s good for their health, or whether they’re fully empowered to walk away. [21:17] Thank you for watching this video everybody. If you enjoyed it please share it because [21:24] the more awareness we can give this issue the more pressure we apply to Roblox to be better. [21:28] But also please share it because this video took absolutely ages to make, [21:32] and for that we have to thank the supporters of the People Make Games patreon. [21:37] If you believe in games journalism like this video, we would love to have your support. If [21:42] you head over to patreon.com/peoplemakegames you can also see all of the cool rewards you can get, [21:48] like Bad Idea House, a regular feature where Chris and I go through stories we researched [21:52] but couldn’t quite turn into videos for one reason or another. [21:55] Ah, the catharsis of actually getting to turn this work into something. [21:58] Yeah. At least now it was worth something because [21:59] we've been able to talk about it and tell it to you people. [22:03] Thanks again, everybody. That link was patreon.com/peoplemakegames