Hey! I’m currently working on a game, and I was wondering if a feature I thought of was allowed by the Roblox rules.
Currently there’s tons of games that use a lootbox system (jailbreak, phantom forces, etc being notable). This confuses me, since gambling isn’t permitted by Roblox. But lootboxes are?
So I was thinking about adding a scratch card system to my game, you can find them ingame or purchase them with robux/ingame currency. It’d work similar to lootbox systems (in the sense that you’ll get random rewards), so if they’re allowed then would this be? I don’t see a reason why not, because in both cases you don’t know what you’ll get. But I just wanted to make sure.
The lootboxes in phantom forces and jailbreak aren’t considered gambling by the TOS because you can’t get in-game currency from them (cash in jailbreak and credits in PF).
It is only considered gambling if you are potentially rewarding the player in-game currency in a ‘gambling way’, where you put money in, get money out such as slot machines, blackjack tables etc… all the while giving the player the ability to purchase the same in-game currency from a store with Robux.
Casinos and all other gambling style establishments are actually allowed on Roblox, just as long as the developer doesn’t sell the currency for Robux.
Do not implement any gambling or casino style games that involve real money in any way. This includes Robux, as Robux can be purchased for real money. Games should also be fair and not be skewed in the developer’s favor .
In my case I basically wanted to reward the players cosmetics and powerups, they’d be able to obtain the scratch cards by playing (or purchasing with robux/ingame currency) but they wouldn’t be able to be rewarded ingame currency.
I’m pretty sure it’s fine as long as the user is guaranteed to get something back in return for Robux spent. Issues come in when there’s a chance you don’t get anything for purchasing a lootbox or something else.
By that I mean you can’t get currency directly from them. The currency that you do get from them doesn’t have a range from 100 to 1,000,000: it is a relatively flat rate meaning it isn’t considered gambling.
If in doubt, implement a system like the ones stated above. They are big games that have been around a while so if Roblox didn’t like what they were doing, it would have changed.
I have seen a lot and I doubt that they would take down “Top Earning Games” and loosing their own benefits too, Roblox Users aren’t treated equally, which is why I wouldn’t use them as a case study.
Adding on to my point,
Gambling mechanics are allowed by the TOS when these conditions are met;
As long as any Gambling mechanics you implement doesn’t tie itself to Robux directly,
As long as the Gambling mechanic you implement can NOT sustain itself, meaning that you can’t use what you get to continue Gambling.
As long as the game mechanic always have a payout, it is not considered Gambling.
This is exactly true, because the currency potentially earned could fuel another purchase of a scratch card, and another and another… until, they lose and buy currency with Robux. That is was Roblox doesn’t like.
Case