Roblox executive acknowledges 'you can say, okay, we are exploiting child labour,' but would prefer you saw them as job creators
Acknowledging that your company's practices could be seen as exploiting child labor is a bold move, even if you go on to say that you actually think you're doing a good thing. It's a gambit that Roblox Studio head Stefano Corazza took in a recent GDC interview with Eurogamer about the company's reputation for taking advantage of work that's often produced by children.
Roblox is immensely popular with kids, who use it not just to play games but to make and share them with other users. Those creations can also be monetized, earning their makers «Robux» that can be cashed out for real money—from which Roblox takes a healthy cut.
In February, Roblox was sued over allegations that it is "exploiting child labor and offering children nearly worthless digital currency for their labor," but questions about its practices go back much further: In 2021, for instance, People Make Games published an in-depth report on YouTube entitled «how Roblox is exploiting young game developers,» which it followed up with another on the platform's collectibles and shady black market.
Roblox doesn't seem inclined to alter course. In March, the company announced new AI-powered modeling tools that it said will provide «opportunities to create, scale, and monetize on the platform in support of our vision to empower the creation of anything, anywhere, by anyone.»
«You can say, 'Okay, we are exploiting, you know, child labour,' right?» Corazza told Eurogamer. «Or, you can say: we are offering people anywhere in the world the capability to get a job, and even like an income. So, I can be like 15 years old, in Indonesia, living in a slum, and then now, with just a laptop, I can create something, make money and then sustain my life.»
Corazza further defended Roblox's practices by noting that the company has actually hired some of the more popular teenage game developers on the platform, and apparently «they didn't feel like they were exploited.»
«They felt like, 'Oh my god, this was the biggest gift,
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