IS THIS REALLY
IF YOU have children, you’ve probably heard of a game called Roblox. If not, you’re about to find out a lot more about it. The online game is one of the most popular around right now – it has millions of users and allows people to create, and communicate, in a virtual world.
But the huge success of the game has prompted a fiery debate about how child-friendly it actually is.
Earlier this month a mother spoke out encouraging other parents to delete Roblox after a young girl’s avatar was “violently gang-raped” while playing.
Amber Petersen described an uncomfortable account of her daughter’s experience on the iPad version of Roblox .
The incident was alleged to see her character being attacked by two males and later by a female.
At the time it was said that one of the attackers seemed to use the game’s extensive creation tools to conduct the alleged sexually explicit act.
Following the incident, she warned parents and guardians on Facebook to delete the game from their children’s devices – but the post now appears to have been removed.
It had initially been shared more than 6,000 times and resulted in hundreds of parents talking about the safety of the game.
Roblox said it has “zero tolerance” for such behaviour.
It also later confirmed the one of the offenders was identified and has been “permanently banned” from the platform.
The game, which is available on devices such as phones, tablets and PCs, is described as “the best place to imagine with friends” by its developers, who say gaming takes place in “family-friendly, immersive, 3D environment”.
They say they take “great strides” to ensure communication between players and in-game behaviour is “appropriate”.
A parents’ guide which details parental controls and how to implement them is also available.
But since Ms Petersen’s post went viral lots of other shocking details about the game have emerged.
Earlier this month The Sun reported YouTube contained many explicit sex videos that have been made by using Roblox.
The videos were said to show images of genitals and sex acts – some being of a group nature.
In Wales, some parents have claimed some characters have been scary enough to give their children nightmares.
One concerned mother, who asked not to be named, said: “Some of the worst things are the different games on there that have different characters in