Key points
- Roblox will stop private messages starting October 7th.
- After the change, communicating with other players in the game itself will only be possible via chat.
- There are no plans to disable mailboxes that allow players to browse old PMs at this time.
Roblox will stop direct messages on October 7. While the move will inhibit the ability to communicate with others Roblox players, it won't delete it and fans should still be able to browse their old messages after the edit.
Direct or private messages have been a part of the hit sandbox game since its inception, having originally been added Roblox circa 2008. They can be launched from the profile of a user the player wishes to send a message to, or by typing “/w” followed by the recipient's username in the chat box.
Roblox deprecates private messages on October 7th
The direct message era of Roblox is now destined to end, as the game developers recently decided to discontinue support for this feature. The feature will be retired on Monday, October 7, according to an in-game notification that recently started appearing in the Messages tab. After this outage, the only way to communicate with other players of the game itself will be through the so-called “in-experience” chat, which will lead nowhere.
Social media reactions to this impending change are relatively mixed. Some Roblox players seem to be disappointed with the discontinuation of private messages, labeling it as a useful feature that they have used quite often over the years. But not everyone agrees with this sentiment, as many players have said they can't even remember the last time they sent someone a private message, implying that they are indifferent to the end of direct messaging. One fan went so far as to equate Roblox private messages to someone sending emails instead of using a messaging app in 2024, concluding that the feature will not be missed.
Furthermore, a portion of the fandom openly welcomed the change, claiming that private messages were being abused by Roblox scammers. Among the promoters of the so-called “trust trade”, the imitators and scammers of false trade, there is no shortage of bad guys who have long been using direct messages to try to deceive others.
So far, Roblox Corporation has given no indication that it intends to completely remove all traces of private messages from the game. Instead, this upcoming change will apparently only prevent players from sending new direct messages, meaning they should still be able to continue browsing their inbox.
