For those unfamiliar with Roblox – available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and most consoles – it is a sensation. Created in 2006, the game allows users to programme and build their own virtual worlds and experiences which others can explore at their leisure. Worldwide it has 214 million monthly active users as of 2023. A 2021 report from Kids Insights found 59 percent of British children have accounts, making it more popular than TikTok or Snapchat.
Players can even apply to serve as pilots, air stewards, security, or check-in assistants – apparently it takes 10 days to train as cabin crew. Currently the Roblox Ryanair website (a pitch-perfect parody of the real thing) is currently offering cabin crew, junior ground-handling, security and airport health and safety, and customer care escalation agents roles.
“Applicants must have the unrestricted right to use Roblox and Discord and be over the age of 13,” the site explains. You must also have enough Robux virtual currency (paid for using real money) to buy your own uniform, though don’t expect to earn anything for your labour.
Even so, the players seem to take their roles seriously. Just before I was detained for walking through security too quickly, I watched a series of speech bubbles explode out of a rectangular shaped security officer and a player resembling a purple gorilla. The former was politely asking the simian to remove his headphones before stepping through the scanner, while the aubergine ape tried to explain that he physically couldn’t take them off. Not entirely dissimilar from altercations I’ve seen in real life airports, I must admit.
