A game popularized during the 2010s, Roblox holds a special place in the hearts of many teenagers today. Although nostalgia might seem like the primary motive for claiming that Roblox has worsened, the platform has truly lost much of its appeal. 

Many Roblox games have increasingly become “pay-to-win,” making it nearly impossible to complete or win some games without spending real-life money. For example, those playing “Dress to Impress” may be pressured to buy better designs so they can win competitions to create the best themed outfit. As a result, the game has become less focused on having fun and more on achieving a high score with a “perfect” (and costly) outfit by paying Robux, the in-game currency purchased primarily through real money.

“In 2020, I played an older version of [Dress to Impress] called ‘Fashion Famous,’ and there were so many less options, so I feel like you had to be more creative with it,” junior Sierra Lai said. “Now, for ‘Dress to Impress,’ it’s usually a combination of people teaming up and paying Robux to get the best outfit.”

The sense of community among Roblox players has also noticeably decreased. In years past, there were dozens of popular games that emphasized player-to-player interactions. Now, of the few games that become popular, those like “Grow a Garden”—where players harvest crops—do not require socialization, making the value of spending time with others less significant.

Low-quality games that implicitly require players to spend Robux have always existed on Roblox—just take a look at the 2017 tycoon and obby games, based on similar concepts, which predominantly featured business simulations and obstacle courses and asked players every five minutes if they wanted to purchase something.

However, there has recently been an increase of games that are practically identical to each other, just with slightly altered titles and storylines. This pattern reflects developers’ commitment to attracting young players and promoting money-grabbing games without creating interesting gameplay for consistent returners.

Still, Roblox is not a bad platform overall, and developers have managed to create some incredibly interactive games in recent years. By playing well-developed games such as “Pressure,” “The Butchery,” and “Welcome to Bloxburg,” while consciously avoiding the solely money-grabbing ones, users can help decrease the demand for low-quality games, encouraging developers to invest more effort into making all users’ experiences enjoyable.