'Built on child labor': Roblox hit with class action after 13-year-old says he worked 40-hour weeks for free

A new class action lawsuit against Roblox is putting one of the world's biggest gaming platforms under renewed scrutiny over how it treats young creators.

The case centers on a 13-year-old plaintiff who alleges that he spent more than 40 hours a week making Roblox games for adult-run teams without compensation.

What happened?

Filed in federal court in Northern California, as reported by Top Class Actions, the complaint claims Roblox Corporation benefited from child labor while failing to provide meaningful age verification, verifiable parental consent, wages, or basic workplace protections.

Top Class Actions wrote: "Roblox extracts AI training rights from games built on child labor."

The complaint says that the 13-year-old worked under adult-run DevEx developer teams, where he performed game design, development, testing, and advanced Lua scripting for games that generated revenue for Roblox, yet the child was effectively never paid. 

According to the report, adult developers had recruited him by age 11, after he first opened a Roblox account at age 8. It further alleges that deadlines were used to pressure him into longer hours and that he was warned he could be removed if his productivity dropped.

Framed as a broader problem rather than a one-off dispute, the lawsuit seeks to cover minors nationwide who created content or performed game development work on Roblox for adults, DevEx developers, or Roblox itself and received Robux, below-minimum compensation, or no compensation at all.

It also challenges how Roblox's virtual currency works, alleging that the company sells Robux for about $0.0125 apiece but pays only around $0.0035 to $0.0038 per Robux when developers cash out. The complaint says children under 13 cannot turn those earnings into real money at all.

Why does it matter?

The filing contends that when adult supervisors set deadlines and direct minors to spend long hours designing games, testing features, and writing code, that activity amounts to labor.

Another allegation focuses on ownership. The complaint says Roblox requires creators, including minors, to grant the company an ongoing irrevocable global license to their content without compensation, including for artificial intelligence training. It argues that children's work may continue creating value long after they have stopped playing.

What's being done?

Along with damages and other remedies tied to unpaid or underpaid labor, one of the lawsuit's most sweeping requests is that profits connected to AI training on content created by children be placed in a governing trust.

Using stark language, the complaint says Roblox "deliberately built a multibillion-dollar empire on the unpaid and underpaid labor of children." It also alleges that the company attracted young creators with the promise they could "Earn Serious Cash" while operating through what the lawsuit describes as a privately created "fake currency."

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.