[Content note: This story discusses allegations of child sexual abuse.]
A new report from the research firm Hindenburg Research claims that Roblox Corp. is lying about player metrics for its titular gaming platform and provides more details about its previous problems with employing adequate child safety measures.
Hindenburg investigates unethical corporate and financial reporting and accounting irregularities. Since its founding in 2017, the firm has consistently exposed alleged fraud and corruption, and its findings have been used in financial crime cases.
Roblox Corp. has operated continuously at a loss for several quarters (through several years), and Hindenburg noted The one from Roblox The major US market may soon become saturated. Therefore, he believes that Roblox Corp. posted “pumped up” user metrics to present a stronger image and boost its stock.
The company says the developer has two separate sets of logs counting users and “consistently overestimates” the number of players on its platform by 25-43% and hours of engagement by 100%.
This indicates that players are creating multiple accounts which are counted as multiple users rather than a single individual.
For example, Roblox Corp. may use “people” when referring to Daily active users (DAU), which according to Hindenburg can imply that each DAU is a unique person. But in SEC filings, these DAUs are defined as “not a measure of individual access Roblox,” and said that such investor metrics are not independently verified.
An ex Roblox The employee further confirmed those claims by revealing that players can create multiple accounts for different games or to prevent their main account from being compromised. Roblox Corp. recognized this in a SEC filing 2023stating that “it is not possible to accurately estimate potential duplicate users.”
Other former employees supported him Roblox can track users with alternate accounts. However, they said the financial group actually excluded the data team's more accurate reporting to publish its own numbers for investors.
“They hire their own reporting groups to own the pipeline, to report and calculate these numbers,” said one former data scientist. But finance is what ultimately gets reported to Wall Street. […] And finance is the source of “truth”».
Moreover The one from Roblox belittled issues are coming to light
Hindenburg also investigated claims of sexually explicit material Roblox that is easily accessible to children, sometimes with the explicit intent of luring them into abusive situations.
Roblox it is supposedly home to predators looking to take advantage of younger players. It was reportedly a long-standing question for years and has raised concerns about child safety.
Earlier this year, a Bloomberg report said staff became more vocal with leadership about these concerns after plans to address the issue were reportedly rejected. However, Roblox Corp. disputed the report and stressed that players “have a safe and positive experience.” Roblox “every single day.”
Hindenburg's research reiterated “dozens of abuse” and child safety scandals Roblox as previously reported over the years. Such stories include young players participating in sexual games on the platform, being solicited (or sent) sexual content, and sexually oriented videos made on Roblox.
The company has created several new ones Roblox accounts of different ages to determine whether the platform has improved its security measures. It says there is still no initial screening to avoid creating accounts named after specific sexual predators, and that 900 players had usernames that referenced or were inspired by Jeffrey Epstein.
Furthermore, he said that in-game chat rooms have no age limit and can reach almost 40 years old Roblox the groups had members who openly solicited sexual favors and traded child pornography. The moderation teams reportedly took action against some groups, but they were not completely banned from the platform.
Using an account created for a 9-year-old, Hindenburg claims he could access several player-created games without age restrictions, meaning young gamers (who make up 21% of the community) could access them easily.
The company also reported several cases of access to the aforementioned chat rooms and testimonies of users soliciting sexual relations with minors.
Hindenburg considered The one from Roblox security settings were “ineffective” and that it was possible for users to bypass parental controls by creating their own or creating an alternative account without such restrictions.
Hindenburg's report raises questions Roblox investors
Ultimately, Hindenburg concluded that Roblox Corp. “has deceptively inflated its reported number of 'people' on its platform and their level of engagement for years.”
“At the same time,” it reads, “the company has cut moderation costs in an effort to please Wall Street, while endangering children with a platform that exposes them to illicit content and facilitates large-scale pedophilia.” .
Hindenburg's complete and extensive report on The one from Roblox one can read about inflated player numbers and the alleged lack of adequate player moderation Here.
The game's developer has reached out to Roblox Corp. for comment and will update when a response is given.