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# Report: Roblox Is Somehow Even Worse Than We Thought, And We Already Thought It Was Pretty Fuckin' Bad
- URL: https://aftermath.site/roblox-crimes/
- Published: 2024-10-09T03:14:32.000Z
- Updated: 2025-10-27T17:11:33.000Z
- Author: Luke Plunkett
- Tags: Blog, Video Games, crimes, roblox, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-10-27 13:00

Anyone reading this website probably already has a dim view of *Roblox*. Whether it's for[ the child labour stuff PMG raised recently](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FgXlauRB1EQ&ref=aftermath.site) or a host of other issues--[from customer service](https://aftermath.site/roblox-gift-card-robux-invalid-code/) to loot boxes to child predators--I think we'd all agree that it's a pretty shitty platform run by a pretty shitty company. But not even I, an avowed hater, was prepared for the depths of *Roblox'*s reported shittiness until I read through[ a paper released by Hindenburg Research earlier today](https://hindenburgresearch.com/roblox/?ref=aftermath.site).

The firm, which uses "forensic financial research" to "aid our investment decision-making", is essentially performing journalism for investors. Which...look, we can talk about that another day ([and keep the company's motivations in mind in particular](https://newsletter.gamediscover.co/p/roblox-gets-hindenburg-ed-should?utm%5Fcampaign=email-half-post&r=2lpweo&utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email)), but what they've reported about *Roblox* takes everything we already knew was bad and cranks the dial past the point I thought it could be cranked.

The paper begins by laying down some pretty serious analytical and financial allegations: that *Roblox* has been massively inflating both its active userbase and playtime metrics in order to trick investors into thinking it's a growing business, despite losses in the billions and a total lack of profitability.

> Our research indicates that Roblox is lying to investors, regulators, and advertisers about the number of “people” on its platform, inflating the key metric by 25-42%+. We also show how engagement hours, another key metric, is inflated by an estimated 100%+.

Hindenburg cite everything from encouragement for users to create AFK games--which inflate playtime metrics even though most people aren't actually "playing" those games most of the time--to bot farms in Vietnam. Shady! But the report keeps on rolling, past the white-collar money stuff into even more serious allegations about child safety:

> After we found a username, we listed our age as “under 13” to see if children are being exposed to adult content. By merely plugging ‘adult’ into the Roblox search bar, we found a group called “Adult Studios” with 3,334 members openly trading child pornography and soliciting sexual acts from minors.  
>  
> We tracked some of the members of “Adult Studios” and easily found 38 Roblox groups – one with 103,000 members – openly soliciting sexual favors and trading child pornography.  
>  
> The chatrooms trading in child pornography had no age restrictions. Roblox reports that 21% of its users are under the age of 9, a number that is likely underestimated given that Roblox has no age verification aside from users seeking 17+ experiences.

Excuse me, what the fuck? *How* many members? How could this be happening at a company that is claiming to make billions?

> Despite Roblox’s claims of “best in the world” content moderation, our interviews with moderators show safety was largely outsourced to Asian call centers. Moderators described being paid $12 a day to review countless instances of child grooming and bullying with a limited ability to keep perpetrators off the platform permanently.

Ah. Of course.

The report is very long--everything I quoted above is from its summary, not the report itself--but if you want to dig into the details (and keep Hindenburg's motivations in mind while doing so!), [the full thing is here](https://hindenburgresearch.com/roblox/?ref=aftermath.site).