The Roblox Corporation seems to be doing a lot of apologizing lately. After a controversial game called Steal an Egg went viral on its platform with more than 500,000 concurrent players, the company announced new restrictions this week that appear inspired by the core design of that experience. The company told Roblox developers that “games that reward ongoing media feed consumption” will no longer be allowed in Roblox Kids and Select.
“This affects games that combine media feeds, autoplay, infinite scroll, autoscroll, and rewards or implied rewards for watching,” Roblox said.
Why did Roblox make this change?
Steal an Egg broke Roblox containment earlier this week when somewhat unsettling images and videos went viral on social media. In a scene straight out of Black Mirror’s “Fifteen Million Merits,” players were seen running on in-game treadmills while seemingly forced to browse social media feeds of AI nonsense.
For context, Steal an Egg is a popular Roblox game that tasks players with raising eggs. However, there’s a twist to this livestock sim: Players can skip the hard work of raising eggs by stealing them from others. Because of this threat, players are incentivized to raise their speed stat, which they can do by spending Robux (a currency purchased with real-world money) or by running on an in-game treadmill. These treadmills are outfitted with a “feed” function that lets players doomscroll on a weird TikTok-equivalent as they make numbers go up— basically, the game combines pay-to-win monetization, idle games, and social media brain rot into a single depressing package. After backlash, Steal an Egg was briefly pulled from the Roblox store before returning without its feed feature.
A Roblox representative said the following about the guidelines update:
Roblox is built for fun and connection. As part of our ongoing commitment to providing age-appropriate experiences, we have updated our policies to help ensure games on Roblox reflect the safe, positive environment we aim to foster. We work closely with our creator community to provide clear guidance, and we regularly review and evolve our policies to stay consistent with that goal.
Just two weeks ago, the U.S. Senate opened an investigation into Roblox due to allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation of minors on the platform. “Over the past decade, police have arrested numerous individuals for committing serious acts of violence and harm against children they met via Roblox, including grooming, sexual abuse, kidnapping, rape, and even murder,” a letter from Josh Hawley and Dick Durbin reads. Numerous states have opened similar investigations into the platform, leading Roblox to institute ID checks and other precautionary measures against predatory behavior.
