CLEVELAND — Gaming giant Roblox has been the subject of many lawsuits in recent years, most related to the harm and potential harm caused to minors through its failures to protect kids from online predators. A new suit filed by Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson is on behalf of Ohio pensioners.
Wilson is seeking lead-plaintiff status in a securities class-action lawsuit accusing video game developer Roblox of misleading investors about child-safety protections on its digital platform.
“Roblox lied to investors and failed to protect children from online predators,” Wilson said in a release announcing the suit. “We’re taking action to recover millions in lost pension funds and to make it clear that tech companies must be held accountable when they put kids in harm’s way.”
The Attorney General’s Office on Friday filed a motion to lead the case on behalf of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. The lawsuit alleges that Roblox, headquartered in San Mateo, California, falsely portrayed its platform as a safe space for children while failing to implement basic protections against online predators. The alleged deception fueled billions in losses for investors, including a combined $21.5 million for OPERS and STRS from October 2024 through April 2026.
Over the last year, the company's stock has plummeted from a 52-week high of $142 a share to its closing Monday at $37.05, resulting in losses to the company's overall value in the tens of billions.
"It's a bit of a novel case," said Eric Chafee, co-director of Case Western's Business Law Center. "The reason why the attorney general is alleging what the attorney general is alleging is because essentially the view is these various state agencies, state organizations were misled when they were purchasing securities, when they were purchasing business investments."
"The idea is essentially that people, in spending their money, paid too much for their securities and ought to get the difference between the amount that they paid and what was the actual value of those securities of those business investments," he said.
Although the company's value has dropped, it still remains valued at over $25 billion, seeing around 150 million users daily.
The lawsuit, pending before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks damages for the financial losses caused by the company’s wrongdoing. Roblox executives David Baszucki, Naveen Chopra and Michael Guthrie are also named as defendants.
