Confused about rules on advertising Discord links in-game

[inlikewithyou (craig)]

I’m under the impression that you aren’t allowed to advertise Discord community links in-game, as many posts on the DevForum seem to point out, yet one of the games in The Games event, HCBB 9v9 2.0, is apparently doing it.

Since this game is basically “endorsed” by Roblox, I’m a bit confused. Is this actually allowed, are these games getting special treatment, or are they pulling a fast one by using this event in order to get more users on their Discord? Does anybody know?

[HollywoodPLUS (Andrew)]

Roblox’s Terms of Service and Community Standards typically prohibit advertising external links across the platform. This includes links to Discord servers and websites. For official events or collaborations (like “The Games” event you mentioned), Roblox might make exceptions or provide special permissions to certain games or developers. If a game is part of an official Roblox event, there might be specific guidelines or permissions given to those games that don’t apply to the broader Roblox community. This could explain why you’re seeing this specific game advertising a Discord link in this context.

[inlikewithyou (craig)]

thanks for your response! i just read through the Community Standards.

i wasn’t aware around the new rules around using PolicyService APIs in order to show users permissible links.

for those who don’t know, you’re now allowed to show certain external links in-game by utilizing PolicyService and checking a user’s AllowedExternalLinkReferences.

this answers my main question about the rules surrounding these links in-game!

[inlikewithyou (craig)]

regardless, it turns out that this game isn’t using PolicyService like they should be. i tested it using a new account which i set to be <13 and used the strictest possible settings on the account. the announcement still went through.

i think there is a definite problem here if Roblox did specifically give them permission to advertise - since they mention that this rule is in place for the safety of users under age 13.

even if there were special permissions granted by Roblox for this game - it goes against what the rules were created for in the first place. as I understand it, these rules prohibiting external links, and especially social links, are specifically to protect young users from content they aren’t eligible to access.

Discord isn’t a platform for users under age 13, so it’s a definite problem either way you cut it. alas, i’ll leave it at that.