GoKawiil
Tech News
A nine-year-old running the Mighty Mike Plays YouTube channel used his father's saved corporate credit card details to fund a series of self-directed ad campaigns promoting his Roblox and Minecraft content, ultimately charging $118,000 without his father's knowledge. His father, Dave, only discovered the spending after being summoned to a meeting with his company's finance team to explain the missing funds.
A man identified as Dave says his 9-year-old son unknowingly spent $118,000 on YouTube ad campaigns promoting his Minecraft and Roblox gameplay videos over roughly three weeks. The charges went through a company credit card Dave had saved to a Google account shared with his son, after he had shown the boy how to run a small $20 promotion. Some of the promoted videos gained hundreds of thousands of views before finance staff flagged the spending.
Roblox announced 'Roblox Everywhere,' a plan to let creators release their games as standalone apps on mobile, PC, and consoles while Roblox still handles the engine and backend. The move comes as Roblox's creator earnings hit $1.7 billion, with the top 10 creators averaging $65 million each even as the median creator earned only about $1,500. Roblox also confirmed cross-play will remain on by default, keeping standalone games tied into its main network.
At its annual Developers Conference, Roblox announced plans to let players jump into games directly from a browser without downloading anything, starting with Chrome by the end of 2026. In mid-2027, the platform will also add offline solo play for spotty-connection areas, with early access arriving sooner, alongside a push to let creators publish standalone apps across mobile, PC and consoles under a 'Play Roblox Everywhere' initiative.
At its Roblox Developer Conference, Roblox announced expanded generative AI creation tools, deeper NPC capabilities, and the ability for developers to publish their games as standalone apps on mobile, PC, and consoles, plus in-browser play via links. The company also launched a Roblox Card and Roblox Wallet for creators, and is expanding its natural-language game creation tool 'Build' from New Zealand to Serbia and Singapore, with new desktop access, an asset library, and prompt-based scene generation coming later this year.
European regulators have designated ChatGPT as a search engine under EU digital regulations, placing it under stricter oversight requirements. Reddit and Roblox have also received similar classifications, bringing them under the same heightened regulatory scrutiny.
The European Commission classified ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine and Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms after each surpassed 45 million average monthly EU users. This designation subjects all three to the Digital Services Act's toughest compliance requirements, joining 28 other services already under this heightened oversight.
The European Commission has classified OpenAI's ChatGPT, along with Reddit and Roblox, as Very Large Online Platforms/Search Engines under the Digital Services Act, since each surpasses 45 million average monthly EU users. This designation subjects them to stricter obligations covering ad targeting, algorithmic transparency, and protections for minors. The three companies have until the end of December 2026 to comply.
Roblox announced a crackdown on games within its platform that incentivize children to engage in prolonged, compulsive scrolling behavior. The move targets experiences designed to keep young users hooked through reward loops tied to endless content consumption rather than meaningful play.
Roblox has introduced a new policy blocking younger players from experiences that reward continuous media consumption through autoplay, infinite scrolling, or embedded video feeds. The rule appears aimed squarely at 'Steal an Egg,' a viral game that let players boost their characters by watching a treadmill-style video stream, which was pulled and later reinstated without that feature. Accounts under the Roblox Kids and Select tiers, covering ages 5 to 15, are now barred from such games.