Roblox players across the country of Qatar are discovering that the game has been completely banned. The surprising move has left players unable to access their favorite in-Roblox titles, and it’s not clear if Roblox can do anything to resolve the situation.
While Roblox is an extraordinarily popular game platform, it has also faced a fair share of controversy over the years. One of the most alarming developments in recent history is a lawsuit against Roblox after a child was kidnapped. The child allegedly played Roblox and met someone in the game that they believed to be a teenager. However, the user was actually much older than that, and a predator. Upon meeting the user in real life, they were abducted. Even outside this issue, though, it seems the content within the game is apparently enough to give some governments pause.
Entire Country Bans Roblox
It’s now coming to light that the country of Qatar has banned Roblox entirely. According to Qatar Tribune, the move came following a social media campaign asking for the game to be banned due to “potential risks to children and teenagers.” On August 12, players started reporting that they were unable to access the game. While the app is reportedly still available for download, booting it up informs the user that they have no network access, while the web client says that the site simply can’t be reached. Another publication, Al Jasra, noted that “incidents of virtual assaults” had transpired in the game, which may have also led to this move.
As of publication time, Roblox hasn’t issued an official statement regarding the ban, so it’s not clear how the company will react. However, this isn’t the first time that Roblox has gone through something like this. In 2024, Roblox was blocked in the country of Turkey, which the government claimed was due to a lack of content regulation, as well as the monetization of the game. Roblox quickly responded to the ban by explaining that it would work with the Turkish government to restore access, so it’s likely that it will do so again with the Qatar government in this latest ban.
Despite these controversies, overall, Roblox continues to thrive as a platform, reaching massive player counts. In addition to an estimated 380 million active monthly users, the game Grow a Garden on Roblox soared to a whopping 16 million concurrent players in June. Hopefully, gamers who have lost access to Roblox will be able to regain it soon.
Roblox
- Released
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September 1, 2006
- ESRB
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T for Teen
- Developer(s)
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Roblox Corporation
- Publisher(s)
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Roblox Corporation
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