Adopt Me, one of the biggest games on Roblox, has been shut down in Belgium and The Netherlands as of September 13 in order to comply with the countries’ laws regarding lootboxes.
The Roblox platform allows users to create their own content, including games, and some people have successfully monetised their created content. Last year, Adopt Me developer Uplift Games took the success of the title and used it to relaunch, potentially allowing them to expand their reach beyond Roblox and develop titles for a variety of platforms.
A return is in the works
In a blog post, a representation going by the username Steven stated “We want Adopt Me to be enjoyed by as many players around the world as possible. However, to comply with laws in The Netherlands and Belgium, access for players in The Netherlands and Belgium has been disabled. This is part of a Roblox-led program to comply with this law and as such, we expect other Roblox games to be making these changes in the following weeks.”
The post goes on to state that Adopt Me will be changed in order to allow the game to be made available in these regions again in the future. However no timeframe has been given in regard to when this may happen, although Steven does state that the change could take a long time.
Uplift Games also doesn’t make clear whether the changes will affect other regions. Although few countries have outright banned the mechanic, it remains controversial in several regions due to gambling concerns.
Roblox has quickly become one of the biggest names in the metaverse, drawing attention from notable names from industries such as fashion and music. Earlier this week, the company announced that selected developers will receive funding beginning at $500 thousand to further foster their growth on the platform.
