The online casinos, which reportedly accepted even children, used Roblox's virtual currency, Robux, enabling its users to participate in gambling games such as slots or blackjack
In August last year, Roblox, the popular video gaming platform that has an estimated 80 million daily active users, was hit by a lawsuit in the United States. The legal claim, filed by parents of children who used the platform's virtual currency to access casino gambling, challenged the unlawful activity, naming the platform defendant.
While the lawsuit gained traction in September this year, now a new report suggests that several "Robux" casinos accepted millions of pounds worth of bets per month across the ocean in the United Kingdom.
An investigation by the media outlet Sky News uncovered that a trio of casinos that used Roblox's virtual currency called Robux, catered to approximately 2.8 million monthly visitors. That is the case for Bloxmoon, RBLXWild and BloxFlip, online casinos, which, according to the publication, enabled children to exchange Robux for their own equivalent of virtual chips and allowed them to play blackjack, slots or roulette, among other gambling games.
Potential winnings from the Robux casinos were then exchanged to cryptocurrency and into cash. While it is yet to be confirmed what percentage of the casino users were underage, the investigation suggests that children as young as 16, 14 and even 12 were among the frequent players of the platforms that used operated in violation of Roblox's terms and conditions.
Previously, the popular platform argued that casinos or other platforms using its virtual currency are doing so in breach of Roblox's terms and conditions. A spokesperson for Roblox confirmed that the platform doesn't endorse or authorize any online casino.
While Roblox also confirmed that it has dedicated an entire team to deal with such threats and unlawful attempts, it welcomed additional actions by law enforcement and regulators that can help in that battle and bring the responsible owners of such websites to justice. Recently, Roblox updated its parental controls, as well as safety systems in an effort to better monitor and restrict children's activities.
"We have a dedicated group focused on identifying potentially fraudulent activity on Roblox and we work collaboratively with law enforcement authorities where possible to pursue the owners of such websites,"
Some of the aforementioned websites that utilized Robux for online gambling activities were taken down. Regretfully, clones of the original websites reappeared using similar web addresses. On that point, Roblox's spokesperson explained: "Our efforts have met with some success, but we would welcome further law enforcement action and vigilance from web hosting providers to shut down sites like this."
The Robux casinos were aware of the action taken against them. Reportedly, in an official chatroom for one of the casinos, a moderator encouraged players to use certain software solutions, such as VPN, to circumvent potential geo-blocking in the UK or other jurisdictions. "We are handling the situation," the employee of the online casino wrote.
In light of the investigation, the UK gambling regulator, the Gambling Commission, confirmed the launch of an investigation into the Robux casinos that enabled underage players to spend thousands of pounds every month.
Andrew Rhodes, the Commission's chief executive, confirmed that the criminal investigation is ongoing, outlining that the regulator will try to identify the real owners of the casinos. Rhodes also did not miss saying that the operation of illegal gambling websites is against the law, which makes the owners criminals.