I’m building an arcade which will include slot machines and game tables (blackjack, roulette, poker). The game has two currencies, credits which are used to play the machine/tables and tickets which are used to purchase in-game prizes and cosmetics. Tickets cannot be converted into credits, nor can either of the currencies be exchanged for robux. You will always win tickets from playing. No matter how poorly you bet or play you will never end up with less tickets than credits you put into the machine/table (example: if the table cost 5 credits and you bet an extra 10 credits while playing you will always win at least 15 tickets and win extra if you’re lucky).
Currently you earn credits for free by playing the game and bonus credits by having your friends join the game with you. There is already an option to buy tickets with robux but I plan on adding the option to buy credits with robux. Since credits and tickets are valued the same the cost to buy credits with robux will be the same as tickets (so X robux can either buy you Y credits or Y tickets).
My main question is, since credits and tickets are valued the same, there’s no way to lose any currency, and the player can’t lose the currency their robux bought (only trade credits into tickets), it is allowed to have the option to buy credits with robux right?
I can’t say for sure, but I’d guess that it’s fine. You should make sure to thoroughly read the roblox terms of use and community standards. I combed through them and the closest thing I found was this:
Contests and Sweepstakes
We don’t allow contests, games, or sweepstakes on the platform that offer Robux as a prize. This includes:
Lottery-style games
Any use of the words “Play for R$” in games
Offers of “free Robux”
If paid random items appear in your experience, they cannot be sold or traded for Robux, real currency, or anything else of value on Roblox. You also must use the applicable Policy API.
But this shouldn’t be a problem as it only applies to sweepstakes that offer robux as a price. Good luck with your game!
Roblox’s Community Standards state that gambling is allowed but only if it uses in-game currencies that does not involve Robux or real life currencies.
Except where prohibited by local law or regulation, we allow the portrayal of gambling in experiences, no real money, Robux, or anything that can become real money or Robux, may be exchanged in these experiences. We also require that the odds of winning be fair and not skewed in the developer’s favor.
Section 8 of the Roblox Community Standards.
this is kinda confusing to understand but it sounds like there is a 1:1 trade ratio between a currency obtained with Robux and one without. If you can pay your real money to gamble with, even if it’s converted to a freemium currency first, it’s still gambling with real money. You must assume someone with a gambling addiction would use this feature to advance in your game even if there’s no chance to have a net loss result from playing
I don’t think it’s gambling with robux if you are guaranteed the freemium currency. Whether the player purchases credits to play the machines to win tickets, or just purchases the tickets outright, the player will never get less tickets at the end because of the 1:1 trade ratio:
Since there’s a way to win extra tickets by playing the machines/tables the player actually gets more tickets out of their robux by buying credits and playing rather than just buying the tickets, which is the main reason I want to add the ability to purchase credits. It would guarantee the player more value of their robux, not less, which doesn’t sound like gambling at all.
I never thought of this, thanks for mentioning it. If I add purchasing credits with robux I will keep this in mind and balance my game accordingly.
I forgot to mention this in my original post, but the passive credit regeneration for the game is high enough to where you can play the machines/tables at minimum betting without having to stop playing to wait for more credits. This would make purchasing credits with robux only necessary if you want to bet above the minimum to win tickets faster or if you want to support the game.
I didn’t know about the Policy API , thanks for mentioning it. I will implement this before the game goes into public testing.
Despite the presentation, since you’ve made it so that the player will always win an item (in this case, tickets) you will be following a different policy – Randomized Virtual Items. This requires that you disclose the chances of winning options and there cannot be a losing option (as in, there cannot be a scenario where you do not get anything after a round or undercut a user’s purchase).
Please do be aware of Policy APIs as well - PolicyService. Some countries will not permit the use of these machines regardless of whether or not Robux is involved and there is also a separate policy involving trading. The first answer that mentions Policy APIs conflates these definitions dangerously erroneously - the presence of paid random items does not affect the ability to trade them; and Robux does not necessarily need to be involved as a factor of if the policy prohibits a certain user from an activity or not.
The presentation as gambling machines may tread a fine line but moderation is context-based so they may recognise it as paid random items. Still, it sounds like you’re playing with fire even with that in mind, and I frankly would not enter the gray zone for the sake of maximising monetisation. I feel it’s better to be in the green with this kind of thing and to find other avenues to monetise instead.
The ToS allows the portrayal of gambling which is the theme of my arcade. No robux is used in actual gambling, it is only converted into tickets at an equal and fair rate. I believe moderation would recognize the machines/tables as paid random items as long as I make clear the 1:1 currency ratio, impossibility of losing currency, and follow the PolicyService and Randomized Virtual Items policies.
You have a good point. It is definitely safer to not include the ability to purchase credits with robux than it is to have that feature. Moving forward in development I will keep this in mind and make plans to easily have that feature removed if it comes down to it.