You can't yet play Roblox on PS5 or PS4, and thanks to some new revelations from the FTC / Microsoft hearing, we're learning why. New comments from PlayStation head Jim Ryan have surfaced, explaining the main reason the incredibly popular platform has yet to reach Sony's consoles, and it boils down to concerns around its target audience.
Famously, a large portion of Roblox's player base is young children. It's a free-to-play platform that allows users to create their own worlds and games, and then share them publicly with others. However, microtransactions for the in-game currency, Robux, encourage kids to spend real money in order to buy new games to play, character skins, and much more.
It's essentially this that has given Sony pause over bringing Roblox to PlayStation. "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," said Ryan in a 2022 call to investors. "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."
Again, this was a conversation from last year, and Roblox has yet to appear on PS5 or PS4. A job listing for a console software engineer was found in 2022, suggesting a port is indeed happening, though we're still no clearer on when (or if) it'll surface.
Do you want to see Roblox on PlayStation? Tell us in the comments section below.
Comments 30
My household has a lot of experience with Roblox.
It's no more easier to spend on Roblox than it is Microtransactions or loot boxes/ultimate teams.
Parents just need to not be so relaxed on this stuff.
A quick Google search tells me that Roblox made $2.343B in revenue in the 12 month period ending in March 2023.
What was CoD worth to PlayStation in 2021? $1.5B globally was the estimate wasn't it?
Makes you wonder.
I like the idea of Sony protecting little gamers from real world purchases in games, but I guess they need to fill that potential CoD gap in the books somehow.
Or maybe I'm overthinking it and there's no link here at all.
It's no different to FIFA, Fortnite or any other game with MTX
It's an impossibly huge game and it's bizarre it has been missing from the biggest home console platform for so long
@MeatyVeg with respect, Im not that sure you read the article?
Their clear concern was the demographic showing how young the user base is, which quite clearly marks this out from other games with mtx. The article states explicitly why this was treated differently?
Loads of children play fifa as well. Where were you then sony?
Aaaahhhh, Roblox, the modern day child slavery!
No but seriously, when a product has children create content which is then sold back to them, there's something seriously wrong.
EDIT: before people jump at me, watch People Make Games' videos on Roblox.
Pretty sure a lot of young kids play Minecraft, which isn’t free to play but the last I checked there was still a lot available to buy. Fortnite has a lot of kids as well.
So while I think there’s obviously a reason, “protecting kids” isn’t it. Protecting themselves from parents of those kids suing them maybe. Or protecting their rep as a serious console or some such.
I grew up and got a cash allowance. My kids get Robux. For a free game, it gives kids a lot of options, so I don't mind throwing some cash for some silly items.
There are some concerns about some of the content, but I also keep close tabs, and there is some quality stuff on there. My son is even learning how to program in Roblox. Believe me, the popular games are not created by children, it's all Lua based and takes some skill.
If it came to PS, I would probably join my son more often in some games.
@Snackfood You really have to watch out indeed with microtransactions you can spend a lot without even knowing/understanding how fast it adds up that's the reason I quit Overwatch. And yes parents should watch their kids more when it comes to gaming.
Removed - inappropriate
@Flaming_Kaiser I've been able to use Roblox to teach about money and saving. It's actually been a handy teaching tool.
"...we have been very careful with regards to opening them up to anything that could potentially exploit them," between the microtransactions and the predators, my kid is doing fine without this game
Roblox just makes kids angry ,broken levels,terrible collision detection, 5fps,"dad can you get through this level for me" dad who has been gaming for decades, attempts to jump over a small gap and continually drops into some red stuff,which i presume is lava,roblox is the devils anus of a game ,and should be buried deep in the 9th circle of hell where it belongs.
@BeerIsAwesome oh please try it...and then you can change your name to BeerIsNecessary.
I'm stunned there's actually a market for this....... Granted, I'm over a decade removed from being the parent of a young child, but still...........
blame the parents young children dont actually have a credit card to pay for microtransactions
Money is one problem, the actual predators on Roblox are another thing entirely. I've kept a pretty close eye on the content my daughter gets into on that thing, and I have definitely caught her chatting with what I'm pretty sure were probably sexual predators based on the things she was being asked. After that I basically felt no other option than to just lock the parental settings down as hard as possible. Which basically just disables half the game, so now she just complains that she can't play certain games with her friends. But oh well.
"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,"
but we gave it some thought, and realized that we're totally cool with the exploitation!
@SplooshDmg Do what you gotta do. She may be upset, but she'll be safe. I'm a father of 3. 2 teen girls and a 10 year old boy. I know what it's like to go on full protection mode for your kids. Don't care what anyone thinks about it either. Kudos to you.
Good on playstation for thinking of children, I know roblox is really famous for little kid but I didn't know what game it is.
My childhood was playing Yugioh forbidden memories on my ps one and Pokémon on my gameboy but Roblox actually looks like a game I would have loved to play as a kid on pc.
Right now I'm not interested lol BUT i know it makes lots and lots of money so yeah, this is good news.
@BeerIsAwesome ill give you 10 min ,with that abomination 😂
What the parents need to do is hide the passwords from the kids and enable password inputs for purchases. If the kid is sneaky and gets the password, well, damn! There goes $100. Flawless plan I know 😎😎😎
Translation: it's a free to play title where people buy robux, we at Sony want to know the best way to monetise it so we make a good portion of the profit
@rjejr Roblox has an even younger audience than even Minecraft or fortnite I think. From what I seen kids show an interest in Roblox very young. No idea how they manage it but something about it grabs toddlers attentions.
@Balosi I agree that the player base is young, I just don't think it's the main reason it isn't on PS4/5. Money makes the world go 'round.
I respect not wanting younger kids to be buying all the micro transactions, I wish more felt the same way. But kids find a way. They’ll play it somewhere else or play something else with micro transactions. My youngest got big into fortnight and constantly wants to buy skins for his character. It’s my job as a parent to pull him back and tell him no. He may want it, he’s not getting it though.
Full disclosure. My kids only have an xbox because Roblox is on it. If roblox finds it way onto Playstation, I may be without an xbox when the ps6 shows up.
That said, I also hate roblox and wish it would die in a fire.
@Shepherd_Tallon I think you're on the right track. Perhaps not just because CoD might end in Sony platforms, but also because they're a company and the profit this franchise has turned changed their minds. I think CoD does play a part in this, just not the only reason.
I used to play this game when i was a 8 year old kid and now i just graduated. Surprised its still relevant i thought it died many years ago..
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