Kids claim child labor law violations at Roblox

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A class of children who use the online gaming platform Roblox say the platform is violating state and federal child labor laws by profiting off the unpaid and underpaid labor of minors, according to a new lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California.

The lead plaintiff, suing as John Doe B.D., claims the company intentionally exploits the time and effort of its minor users through features such as the Developer Exchange (DevEx) Program and Talent Hub job board.

The minor plaintiff claims he worked more than 40 hours a week on Roblox between 2024 and 2026, when he was 11 to 13 years old, according to the complaint filed Tuesday. Doe says his work included game design, development and testing for one or more adult-led DevEx development teams, but he was not paid any wage for his labor.

Doe says he was subjected to “coercive conditions characteristic of exploitative employment relationship,” including threats that he would be removed from his team and replaced if he did not continue to produce work, as well as having his work criticized by adult supervisors.

“Roblox did not stumble into child exploitation. It engineered it. And it has profited from it, to the tune of billions of dollars, on the labor of children, some as young as eight years old, nearly all of whom received nothing for their work,” Doe says in the complaint.

Roblox provides free development tools for users to design their own games and allows creators to make money by monetizing their games. As part of this process, Roblox maintains a Talent Hub, where users can find opportunities to work on Roblox game development and earn Robux, a digital currency that can be used on the Roblox platform or be converted into real-world currency through the DevEx program, which requires users to be at least 13 years old.

Doe claims adults on the platform exploit minor users on the platform — nearly 75 million, or half of the platform’s daily active users, are under the age of 13 — without any regulations on how long they can work or how much they are paid.

He says Robox strategically markets itself to children as a way to make money, using phrases like “Make anything. reach millions. Earn serious cash,” and saying it hopes builders and developers on the platform will “see serious Roblox game development for what it really is: a job,” while hiding the fact that the majority of users — including minors — are rarely paid.

By December 2022, nearly 4.2 million developers earned Robux, but only 11,000, or 0.26%, qualified to exchange their virtual currency for U.S. currency. Only 8,800, or 0.21%, actually converted their earnings, according to the complaint.

“While Roblox’s exploitation does not involve the once common hallmarks of child labor — dangerous machinery, visible injuries, or blackened hands from a day in the mines — it is in several ways more insidious: Roblox’s exploitation takes place in the child’s home and is dressed-up as a game — colorful, digital, and marketed to children as ‘fun,’” Doe says in the complaint.

“But child labor law was not written to guard against coal dust; it was written to protect children’s time, economic opportunity, and right to a childhood free from commercial exploitation.”

The minor plaintiff says he never had a work permit, and Roblox never meaningly informed his parents of his labor on the platform. He also argued that any contract he may have entered into by agreeing to the platform’s terms and conditions is unenforceable because he is underage.

Doe’s claims include violations of California and federal labor law violations, unjust enrichment and negligence. He seeks the recovery of unpaid and underpaid wages for the class, as well as a trust over intellectual property rights obtained through child labor and injunctive relief ordering Robox to implement child labor protections.

A Roblox spokesperson said in a statement they “strongly reject the characterization” of the lawsuit.

“We want to provide a positive and safe experience for everyone. People of all ages and backgrounds start creating on Roblox for many different reasons — to learn to code, to share their creations with friends, or simply for the joy of building,” they said.

The spokesperson said the DevEx program has “clear and strict requirements that explicitly state that reaching the level of success required to earn money takes significant time and skill, and there is no guarantee of income.”

A representative for the minor plaintiff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Roblox has repeatedly been under fire over the safety of its platform for children. It faces dozens of lawsuits across the country, including in Iowa, Florida and Texas, on claims it failed to take adequate measures to protect children from sexual predators.

Recently, Alabama announced a first-of-its-kind settlement with Roblox that requires the platform to pay $12.2 million to the state, as well as implement several new protections for children, including verifying the ages of new and existing users with something stronger than just typing in a birthday and blocking private chats between users over the age of 18 and those under 16, unless the adult is on the child’s small list of “trusted friends” approved by a parent.

Under the agreement, Roblox will also create a “default content mode” for users under 16 with access only to games and content that has been screened and rated as appropriate. Experiences labeled for adults or marked “restricted” will be off-limits to minors.

The company also faced claims of allowing minor children to essentially gamble with real money, although a judge ultimately dismissed the class action.

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