Famous ‘Oof’ sound removed from Roblox due to licensing issue

World-famous sound will no longer be available in Roblox due to a licensing issue.

Roblox recently announced that its world-famous “oof” sound featured in its game would be removed due to a licensing issue. The original creator of the sound most likely removed the ability to sell it, but details are currently sparse.

Announcing the removal via Twitter, Roblox stated that it has replaced the sound with a different “oof” sound file instead. It also took the time to announce that additional sounds would be made available in the Avatar Shop in the near future, giving creators a way to customise their games via microtransactions.

Our roadmap includes the ability to add sounds by getting them directly from the creators and licensors. Users will also be able to customize sounds for their avatars in the same way they customize clothing.

— Roblox (@Roblox) July 26, 2022

Details are sparse, but Roblox veterans may recognise some reasons why this change occurred. The “oof” sound’s original creator, Tommy Tallarico, created the noise for a game called Messiah back in the year 2000. In 2019, he took notice, stating via Twitter: “It’s an honour that something I created 20 years ago has become so iconic and a part of pop culture. I just need to be fairly compensated and I’ve never been cheap.”

People are asking, so just to clarify: I'm not mad at Roblox & I don't want them to take my "OOF" sound out. It's an honor that something I created 20 years ago has become so iconic & a part of pop culture. I just need to be fairly compensated and I've never been cheap. :)

— TommyTallarico (@TommyTallarico) June 22, 2019

The result of the dispute was that Tallarico would be allowed to sell his “oof” sound at the price of $1 USD per license fee, and also be allowed to sell “oof” merchandise via the Roblox Amazon store. Despite all this, it appears likely that Tallarico revoked Roblox’s ability to sell or use the “oof” sound, causing the company to replace it.

Continuing on, the Roblox Twitter account explained their road map for adding a custom sound library, including the ability to add sounds to their Avatars directly from creators and licensors. This means that if Tallarico chooses to sell the iconic sound again, players may get the ability to use it in the future.

Roblox has been in the news a lot recently, from a fight over a DMCA request over piracy that had Roblox decline a subpoena from a California judge to a hacker-led extortion attempt against the company itself. The platform for children’s games remains extremely popular through all of this, with over 200 million unique players accessing Roblox content in the past 30 days.

Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.