Young gamer blows family's entire Christmas budget on Roblox microtransactions

Christmas may be something plenty of us look forward to, but it can also be a pretty stressful time. It’s a time of year that can require a lot of spending. Even the best budgeters can incur unexpected costs but what you may not expect, is for your entire family budget to be blown on Roblox microtransactions.

Microtransactions continue to appear in most games and despite their unpopularity, rake in a ton of money. Diablo Immortal earned $24 million in its first two weeks of release alone. Fortnite has also landed itself in hot water for its microtransactions after the US Federal Trade Commission found Epic Games guilty of tricking players into making unintentional purchases.

As reported by Daily Star, mum Kayla Howard was horrified after receiving a call from her bank to inform her that her seven-year-old son had spent hundreds of pounds in Roblox. Kayla’s son had been purchasing Robux, which is the in-game currency, leaving the mum overdrawn in her account and with no money left to pay rent or buy Christmas presents.

In a bid to try and save Christmas, Kayla has set up a crowdfunding page. In total, Kayla’s son spent around £740 ($897.17) but additional overdraft fees were also incurred. Attempts to apply for refunds via the Google Play store were largely fruitless. Kayla was refunded just £8.89 ($10.80).

The mum of four told 12News (Via Daily Star) that the timing “could not have been worse”. She said, “Sometimes as busy parents, we do overlook things. He’s seven. He has autism. You know it’s hard for him to recognise consequences for his actions. That’s what he’s working [on]. I’m trying my best not to cry, not to stress about it. I’m just trying to be as solution focused about it as I can.” Thankfully, it looks like Christmas is back on. Kayla’s crowdfunder has, at the time of writing, raised an incredible $8,975 - exceeding her initial goal. It is the season of giving after all.