[7] Roblox also has a service called "Roblox Premium", a monthly subscription that gives users monthly stipends of Robux (with the amount depending on the selected subscription tier), discounts when purchasing items, access to the item trading system, the ability to buy more Robux for cheaper, and more.

[8][10] While only Roblox developers were able to create avatar items early on,[8] the capabilities of user-generated content has expanded greatly over time.

[22] A sizable amount of scams are on Roblox, largely revolving around messages promoting websites and games that are designed to appear to give out free Robux.

Prior to the creation of the platform, both Baszucki and Cassel worked for Knowledge Revolution, a company that specialized in creating educational and physics simulation software.

After Knowledge Revolution was acquired by MSC Software, the two left the company and Baszucki began investing in earlier social media sites like Friendster.

[2] Baszucki and Cassel worked alone while making the earlier versions of Roblox, and created their own games on the platform before the creation tools were completed.

[2] During this time in 2007, Roblox introduced the "Builders Club" membership subscription, which allowed for users to create more games under their account, sell virtual clothing, remove outside advertisements from the site, and gain Robux daily.

One of the most successor creators on the platform at the time was Luke Weber, known on Roblox as "Stickmasterluke", who had a following of over ten million plays across all of his games combined.

[52] This version initially only released with selection of 15 games chosen by Roblox staff, due to concerns regarding Entertainment Software Rating Board standards.

[2] The platform's growth was further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020, where lockdowns led tens of millions of children to use Roblox as a means of communication.

[56][57] Between March and April, Roblox reported having over 120 million monthly active players, which by that point included over half of all kids in the United States that were under the age of 16.

[59] In light of the platforms newfound popularity and uses during lockdowns, Roblox introduced a new "Party Place" system, which were specific spaces that players could use to arrange meet-ups and events, such as virtual concerts.

[2] In July 2020, Baszucki formally announced plans and goals for Roblox developers and users to build a "metaverse", a concept that refers to several interconnected virtual worlds.

[59] He also announced a partnership between Roblox and record label Monstercat, giving users and creators the ability to use their catalog in games.

[8] Around this time, Roblox optimized the way that its different releases were developed over the course of 3 years, reaching a point where only a minimal amount of engineers were needed to maintain the platforms it was available on and all versions functioned off of the same APIs.

[61] Efforts were also made towards making Roblox more accessible, with automatic machine translation being added to in-game chat in 2020, initially supporting 9 languages.

[73] The lawsuit was dropped by September 2021, ending with the Roblox Corporation and the NMPA forming a collaboration to establish a framework for future publisher partnerships.

[85][86] Also announced in 2022 was age ratings for games,[83] a system created by the company to increase the platform's appeal to the young adult audience, which was the fastest growing demographic on Roblox, by allowing for more mature experiences.

[108][109][110] Future virtual concerts starred artists like Swedish singer Zara Larsson[111] and American band Twenty One Pilots.

[114] Common Sense Media rated Roblox 4 out of 5 stars, praising the website's variety of games and ability to encourage creativity in children while finding that the decentralized nature of the platform meant game quality varied, and recommended disabling chat functions for young players to prevent possibly harmful interactions.

[115] Patricia E. Vance of the Family Online Safety Institute advised parents to monitor their child's interactions on the platform but praised the platform for "...allowing kids to play, explore, socialize, create and learn in a self-directed way", and granting special praise to Roblox Studio for its ability to encourage children to experience game development.

[116] Trusted Reviews, in its overview of the platform, also praised Roblox Studio, stating that "for anyone seeking to develop their computer science skills, or create projects that will instantly receive feedback from a huge audience, the appeal is obvious".

[128][140] While content like this is prohibited on the platform, and Roblox has a chat filtration system in place to try and censor most inappropriate messages, both have been frequently bypassed, such as through third party apps.

[140][142] In an October 2022 interview, Roblox Chief Scientist Morgan McGuire stated that moderating the platform was challenging, and compared it to attempting to shut down speakeasies.

Roblox refused to take the game down, not seeing it as a safety concern; Sonic the Hedgehog's owner Sega was later notified and sent a takedown request for copyright infringement.

[145] Roblox has been criticized for making it easy for children to spend large sums of money through microtransactions, leading to numerous instances where children have spent large sums of money on the platform without parents' knowledge,[146] and deleting the accounts of players who file chargebacks or request refunds for Robux payments through their banks, card issuers or other third-party companies.

They also highlighted the Arnold "DoctorRofatnik" Castillo case, and criticized the platforms virtual econom, comparing the limited collectibles market to function like gambling and thus encouraging children to seek unofficial and unsafe trading sites to easily obtain highly valuable items, and refusing to help a developer whose account was hacked and had its collectibles and assets stolen.

[136][134] In 2023, Gamesindustry.biz reported that congresswoman Lori Trahan criticized numerous video game companies for failing to address questions on how to combat online extremism, but noted Roblox to be an exception, with them claiming to have a team dedicated to moderating extremist content.

The website, however, mentioned the company's aforementioned criticism for being unable to moderate games that recreated real world shootings.

[159][144][160] Additionally, the Netherlands and Belgium have restricted certain games on the platform due to their regulations on in-game "lootboxes", which give out items based on random or unknown chances, to reduce children's exposure to gambling.