Roblox’s iconic “oof” sound, which players typically hear when their avatars succumb to misfortune and are set to respawn in-game, will no longer be available on the platform, at least for the foreseeable future. Roblox shared the update via its official Twitter account as part of an overview of its vision for adding sounds to the Avatar Shop.
“Related to sounds, due to a licensing issue we have removed the ‘oof’ sound from Roblox and have created a replacement default sound which launches today,” the post says. “We plan to expand our Avatar Shop with a whole range of both old and new sounds in the future. More to come on this.”
Where players would typically hear the “oof” sound, which is among the most recognizable on the platform, they now hear a default audio sound. Players quickly responded to the change by starting a #SaveTheOOF hashtag and sharing memes and jokes about the new sound.
Roblox has suggested that in the future, creators will be able to customise sounds similar to how they customise avatars.
This isn’t the first time Roblox has removed the “oof” sound from the platform. The audio has a storied history, as first reported by VentureBeat. While it reached notoriety across the gaming community due to its emergence in Roblox, it first appeared in an obscure game called Messiah, which came out in 2000. Composer Tommy Tallarico developed the effect alongside sound designer Joey Kuras. However, when Roblox originally purchased the sound, the company believed it had full rights to use it because the company purchased it as part of a sound pack that represented itself as containing only copyright-free sounds. Roblox’s founders were presumably unaware of any connection to Tallarico or Messiah.
Once Tallarico discovered the sound had become popular, he sought compensation from Roblox, beginning a year-long copyright dispute. The dispute ended with Tallarico allowing Roblox to keep the sound as long as it were to set up a sound marketplace, which people could use to customise effects for their avatars and games. Tallarico would then be able to sell the sound in that shop for 100 Robux.
However, as of today, the sound marketplace does not exist. While Roblox’s tweets imply it’s working on it, it appears long overdue. The “oof” sound may return with the introduction of the sound marketplace, but to date, there’s little information about when that will be available.
In the meantime, players can still enjoy their favourite tunes in Roblox by checking our list of Roblox music codes for July. And, be sure to also check out our favourite Roblox games in 2022.