The highly popular live service game Roblox is currently under scrutiny by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as confirmed through a recent Freedom of Information Act request reported by Bloomberg. The SEC has acknowledged that Roblox is referenced in an "active and ongoing investigation," but details regarding the extent of Roblox's involvement remain unclear. The commission stated that sharing staff correspondence related to Roblox would cause "harm to the ongoing enforcement proceedings." As such, Bloomberg was unable to confirm the investigation's focus, and Roblox did not respond to requests for comment. The SEC also declined to provide further comments on the matter.
Roblox has faced various criticisms in the past. In October of the previous year, a report accused Roblox Corporation of inflating its daily active user (DAU) statistics and creating a harmful environment for children. Roblox issued a detailed rebuttal on its website, firmly denying these allegations and emphasizing that "safety and civility" are core to its platform. The company also admitted that undetected fraud and unauthorized access could lead to an overstatement of DAUs. In 2024, Roblox announced significant enhancements to its safety systems and parental controls.
Previously, in 2023, families filed lawsuits against Roblox, claiming the corporation misrepresented the platform's safety for children. A 2021 report from People Makes Games also examined Roblox's user-generated content and raised questions about the exploitation of creators.
Last week, Roblox shares experienced an 11% drop after the company reported 85.3 million daily active users, falling short of the StreetAccount estimate of 88.2 million. Despite this, Roblox CEO David Baszucki remains committed to investing in the platform's virtual economy, app performance, and advancements in "AI-powered discovery and safety," aiming to empower creators and enhance the overall user experience.
