Sony blocked Roblox on PlayStation due to concerns it could "potentially exploit" young audience

Sony blocked Roblox on PlayStation due to concerns it could “potentially exploit” young audience

Time Stamp: June 30, 2023 6:45 AM

Hugely popular game platform Roblox was blocked from launching on PlayStation consoles due to concerns by Sony, it’s been revealed.

Specifically, Sony was worried about the game’s popularity among children causing problems for PlayStation.

The details come from a 2022 document uncovered as part of the FTC vs Microsoft trial, spotted by Axios, in which PlayStation boss Jim Ryan discusses Roblox’s absence from Sony consoles – and admits his company’s stance from the game is now shifting.

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“Historically, because of the large number of children that play on the PlayStation, we have been very careful with regards to opening them up to anything that could potentially exploit them,” Ryan commented.

“Over the last couple of years, however, we have reviewed those policies and relaxed a little on this,” he continued. “We have been conservative for too long, and now we are currently engaging with people at Roblox. We hope that the situation will change.”

Roblox has been dogged by examples of its moderation failing to promptly pick up instances of harmful content, and suggestion its experiences have offered unsafe environments for children.

There have been concerns, too, around how the game encourages in-game spending. Popular game platform rival Fortnite has faced its own issues here, and recently paid an enormous $520m fine after being criticised for making it too easy for users to be pushed into paying.

Roblox is currently available on PC and Xbox consoles, iPhone and Android devices – and it’s doing just fine without PlayStation.

Earlier this year, Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney stated that Roblox had 250 million monthly active users, compared to Minecraft’s 100 million and Fortnite’s 70 million.

That said, launching on PlayStation would surely help Roblox hold on to its aging audience. Just last week, Roblox announced a new 17+ category of games to cater for a growing group of older players.

38 percent of Roblox’s most active users were 17 and older in 2022, Roblox has said, making it the game’s fastest-growing age group.

And of course, as Roblox continues to rake in money, launching on PlayStation will also allow Sony to take its typical cut of consumer spending made through its consoles.

Roblox was spotted hiring for a PlayStation console senior software engineer in 2022, prompting speculation a Sony version of the game was indeed on the cards.

Eurogamer has contacted Roblox for more.

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