Gaming platform Roblox: Anarcho-capitalism for children

I have rarely felt as old as I did this morning when I hung out on "Roblox" for the first time. I jog towards the market square with my newly hatched puppy. "Take me to the nearest potty," flashes above his head. A text tells me: "Oliver2332 has invited you to a party!", and below that is a text in Cyrillic script peppered with hearts. "Hohoho," calls a Santa Claus as I run past. I am overstimulated and overwhelmed.

"Adopt Me!" is the name of the game where you raise and collect pets. 131,000 people are currently playing it at the same time as me. It is one of around 6 million games available on Roblox. Roblox is a gaming platform that is used as a metaverse, i.e. a social network in a virtual world.

The density of stimuli is extreme. I have a similar experience with "War Tycoon" and a game called "Be a Hole" as I did with the pet game. There are often no instructions; the digital natives already know which buttons do what. That's how my grandpa must always feel when I explain to him how to make a WhatsApp call.

According to Roblox, 85 million people use the platform every day. More than one in three of them is under 13 years old. In Germany, too, according to a study by the State Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia, one in three of the 2,000 children and young people surveyed use Roblox. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the platform became a digital playground for meeting friends. Since then, the platform has been growing steadily.

Like many social media platforms, Roblox operates according to capitalist logic: the more time users spend playing a game, the more often the algorithm displays it on the platform. Games rarely get kids hooked by spreading great messages, but rather by releasing dopamine in a particularly clever way. They do this, for example, with random gifts, like lottery tickets.

What makes a capitalist society worth living in despite the messed up system are social institutions, art and culture that exist outside the market and cushion its effects. In the real world, these exist, in part because they are promoted by our democracy. In the anarcho-capitalism of the Roblox world, they hardly exist at all.

The Austrian association Rosalila Panthers wants to change that and opened a queer advice center on Roblox in January. The Wiener Städtische Insurance company and a creative agency were involved. The Belvedere Museum in Vienna has also developed a Roblox game in which users can immerse themselves in paintings and learn about their history.

Such experiences are rare on Roblox. There are so many possibilities: news offers, language courses, tutoring,self-help groups , freedom for political action and engagement. Antifa is manual work. It must also take place in digital spaces - ideally before they are taken over by right-wing groups.