I want to have an in-game contest (fighting game) but to enter you’d have to spend in-game currency (coins) that could be bought with Robux or earned in-game. Let’s say it costs 100 coins to enter the tournament. If you win, you earn your 100 coins back, your rank increases, plus you’re rewarded with another 100 coins.
Would this be against Roblox’s terms of use?
I don’t think so, especially since it doesn’t sound like a total game of chance. Pay-to-play features in games is perfectly fine.
Above statement is completely false.
Gambling games get moderated even if you don’t offer a P2P approach so please be mindful of that.
Wouldn’t that mean games like Bee Simulator are violating the TOC? They have a memory game you can play that costs in-game currency, and that currency CAN be purchased with Roblox.
As long as the currency being used is an in-game currency that can be earned in-game, it’s not a violation.
I asked Roblox support, restating the question in the original post. They sent me the following response:
Thank you for contacting us. That is not allowed as per our Terms of Service, but what you can do is offer game passes where in they contain certain mechanics ff they purchase. Best option is to go to our Developer Forums so you can ask our developers your questions. They would know all the nitty gritty stuff that you want to know about game design.
If there’s a chance players can lose their coins, it’s considered gambling. You can only implement gambling where the currency used cannot be obtained in any way with Robux.
If it’s only a game of chance (100% chance of winning a prize in total), then you must state the odds of winning each prize if Robux-obtainable currencies are involved.
https://devforum.roblox.com/t/about-roblox-gambling/887403
As I stated in this thread, Roblox is not a licensed gambling site (and won’t ever be due to age restrictions on gambling), and players are paying for a product in your games, so you must give them something in return for their Robux. The “value” of the item(s) are determined by you as the developer.
EDIT 06/20/2023
As of the same date of this edit, Roblox has officially moved to ban simulated gambling by September 18th, 2023 (in 3 months), which means that all forms of gambling are no longer allowed on the platform. This contrasts the prior stance to which, as long as there was no Robux involved, it could be passable.
The advice in this post is no longer accurate. Please avoid sharing this as an answer. For more information, please see Updating our policy on simulated gambling in the thread Create Experiences for People 17 and Older on Roblox.
Yes. It is against the rules because there is involvement of Robux indirectly. While you may offer a betting system that can only be utilised purely with in game currency, the notion that you can buy such currency with Robux makes this problematic and will result in moderation.
You have two options on what you can do to rectify this system such that it’s allowed:
Remove the ability to purchase currency. Do not make any kind of exchange whatsoever that, at any step of the process, Robux can be involved, whether directly or indirectly.
Separate your currencies. Use a currency specific to gambling activities that can be earned through completing tasks in your game only (cannot be bought, cannot be exchanged to from other currency types). You are allowed to make this gambling-specific currency exchangeable for currency that can also be purchased with Robux, but not the other way around.
Robux should not be involved at any time when you’re working with gambling mechanics on Roblox, no matter how obscure you make it. For easier understanding of what I mean, I’ll make an absolute “ELI5” chart of some common flows thought around gambling that you might consider.
* Standard currency can still be purchasable with Robux. The spirit of the rule is “if it’s possible for a player to lose their Robux, it’s not allowed”. All purchases must be honoured and grant the player exactly what they paid for.
As your system revolves around paying to enter a tournament and being able to lose your entry fee as a result of losing, your system must abide by the gambling policy and as such the above rules are applicable. An additional third point you can use to rectify your system is to not instill an entry fee on your tournament, but allow rewards to keep increasing as players win. The moment you remove a need to pay to enter, this system no longer falls under gambling policies because it’s not possible to lose anything from losing the tournament.
Please see this post for more information regarding gambling on Roblox:
Thank you for your detailed response.
It’s been stated that gamepasses are allowed, but how about dev products that boosts rewards for the betting currency? Let’s say that the betting currency is rewarded in unranked games when the player wins. Could I add, for example, a x2 boost dev product that boosts your rewards for the next 10 won unranked games.
So what about being able to both earn and buy the currency? Is that still against TOU?
Buying currency to gamble is against the rules. If you want to gamble with something you need to make sure users can’t buy no matter if it’s directly or not.
In this case, rather than a game pass (permanent effect) you are granting users a boost of earnings for games where they are unable to lose their currency and they must also complete the game’s tasks in order to win their keep. The purchase is honoured here: they buy a booster for their earnings.
I’m a little shaky with my knowledge on developer product involvement with these sorts of systems so I would not advise at all taking my word for it, but since supposedly support placed it on the Developer Forum to answer this question this is the best I can give you as per the circumstances.
Ultimately with said booster paid they are still completing the game’s tasks however earning a bonus for doing so and your betting system hopefully will not raise the entering price as such. Therefore in that case, they’re using the currency that they’ve gotten from completing the game’s tasks to bet - with some extra earned from a booster payment.
@AmusedCrepe As Krunnie said and as I’ve outlined, you cannot both buy and earn the currency used for any betting system. It must be purely earnable through completing game tasks or be given out for free (e.g. including betting tickets or similar in daily rewards, which is probably the absolute safest method though it may not be applicable to all games).
So then in theory, I could make lets say, a blackjack game on Roblox, but the currency is earned by winning the game, or are card/casino games not allowed in general (I’ve seen some games with slot machines so I don’t know)
Correct. Provided the currency used for your machines cannot link back to Robux in any way at any step, you can fulfill your wildest fantasies, of course as long as they’re in line with the rules. At that point, it’s more about a question of personal morals and ethics rather than if it’s against Roblox rules.
Casinos, Blackjack, whatever you like that is gambling itself or follows in its principles - if there’s Robux, it’s off the table. If there isn’t, go right ahead.