Many of these ports have since been taken down.
Roblox has long struggled with users recreating existing games on its platform, but the rise of AI technology is taking the problem to a whole new level.
A new wave of reportedly AI-assisted game ports has emerged on Roblox, featuring blatant copies of existing video games with ripped assets and identical user interfaces. Titles from publishers such as Valve, Bandai Namco, and SEGA are among those recreated on the platform.
While some of these ports have been taken down, whether following warnings, through action by the platform itself or at the creators' discretion, several games that plagiarise the originals remain available.
What games have been ported to Roblox?
One of the earliest sightings of these Roblox AI ports was a recreation of the entire PlayStation console experience. In a clip shared by content creator KreekCraft, we see a replica of the console's user interface, complete with its boot screen and several playable games.
The games featured on the home screen include Five Nights at Freddy's, Undertale, The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Clustertruck, SUPERHOT, Gang Beasts, and PaRappa the Rapper. More recently, the Xbox 360 has also been recreated on Roblox, featuring the same line-up of games.
Several Valve titles have also been copied onto the platform, including very identical recreations of Counter-Strike, Halo, and Left 4 Dead 2.
One particularly viral post showed a recreation of Elden Ring in Roblox. The level of detail is astonishing, with the game featuring the similar audio, environments, cutscenes and combat, all rendered in Roblox's art style. It is even said to feature working multiplayer.
Although many of these ports have since been removed, we have found several more examples that closely replicate licensed intellectual property.
One is SEGA's Sonic Generations Multiplayer, based on the 2011 platformer Sonic Generations. Having tried it ourselves, we found that it is an exact copy of the original game, although it appears to feature only the Green Hill Classic map.
X user Sunny, who claims to have ported Sonic Generations to Roblox, said they used “AI-assisted tools” while manually debugging the game and “making sure the game works as intended”. The game has attracted relatively few players, recording more than 8,000 visits since launching on 24 October. However, Sunny's other port, which recreates Five Nights at Freddy's, has amassed more than 4.7 million visits.
How are these ports appearing on Roblox?
Roblox's open platform gives users the freedom to create their own games. As a result, many have attempted to recreate popular titles, offering an easy way to attract traffic and potentially generate revenue.
When Meccha Chameleon took off in the friendslop space, countless copies of the game appeared on Roblox. One recreation, Chameleon!, has amassed 94 million visits, while Paint and Seek! has collected more than 213 million. Another inspired title, Paint or Die! has recorded 185 million visits.
The same pattern has emerged with other simple, viral games, including the fashion game Dressmaker, Among Us, and Needle in a Haystack. The developer of the latter even recently shared a satirical “find the original game” post, shading the many clones of their viral hit.
This wave of copycats has also affected games that went viral within Roblox itself.
When Grow A Garden exploded in popularity, it spawned countless gardening-themed games. The same happened with brainrot trends, tycoon games, and more. The list goes on, making the issue seem almost inevitable, with Roblox itself in the best position to regulate and contain it.
Unfortunately, the problem has escalated from simple recreations and inspired games to blatant plagiarism. Some users have begun raising concerns about how this trend could affect upcoming releases, particularly with the highly-anticipated GTA VI set to launch in just a few weeks.
Neither the affected developers nor Roblox have publicly commented on these latest ports, but most appear to be facing takedowns.
