In Russia, Roblox has been banned by the government. That’s why there are now thousands of letters from children who want to leave.
That the Kremlin receives a lot of criticism from its own citizens is something that is usually rarely reported in Russian media. But there is one thing that is different: Roblox. Because the globally popular game has been banned in Russia, which apparently prompted the younger generation to write letters to the Russian government.
Why is Roblox banned in Russia? On December 3, 2025, access to Roblox was blocked from the Russian side. In the justification from the Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor, it states in the Moscow Times that the game contains “extremist material”, also “propagates LGBTQ and other harmful views” and is full of “inappropriate content that can negatively affect the mental and moral development of children”.
Children are writing letters, want to leave Russia for Roblox
The pro-Russian censorship advocate Yekaterina Mizulina told her Telegram followers that she has received “more than 63,000 letters from children aged 8 to 16 regarding this ban.” Half of these children wish to leave Russia because of this ban.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov also commented on this, stating that he has received many letters from children on the subject. He denies that the children are talking about wanting to leave Russia, “but they write a lot about this game”.
How popular was Roblox in Russia? Roblox was one of the most popular games before its ban – and apparently even beyond that. In 2023, it was the most downloaded game in Russia. Roblox is also extremely popular among the younger generation worldwide, with over 100 million daily users.
Roblox has repeatedly faced criticism internationally, with allegations that not enough is being done to protect children. There are many reports that particularly Roblox is increasingly being used for grooming crimes.
It is rather a rare phenomenon for the president of a country or their spokesman to feel compelled to deal with video games – but it is likely one of the very few commonalities with other countries. Because even the French president has previously spoken negatively about video games and made headlines with it.
