I think most people fail to see what PLS DONATE really was.🤦♂️It wasn't just a game for @haz3m_ to "middleman donations".
The game was successful because of the community that formed around it. Thousands of content creators were able to give back to their fans and connect with their communities while getting super cool reactions and global recognition for their generosity.
People donated because they got something back from it. Being generous came with its own kind of reward. On top of giving wealthy players a place to LITERALLY share their wealth with kids who couldn't afford Robux, it was also a great game for networking and meeting successful people you likely never would have met otherwise.
Reducing the entire game to a "transaction skimmer" misses why millions of people played it in the first place. If you've actually spent time in the game, you'd know it was never just about the Robux—it was about the community, the interactions, and the culture that formed around giving.
I got to meet a lot of cool people through PLS DONATE. And Hazem being upset that his game is being shunned is totally justified.
It’s genuinely sickening seeing some people wish the worst on me and be happy that my game is being killed overnight. Yes, I’m incredibly grateful for the position I’m in, but this was never just about money. It’s about watching a business I’ve built for years be damaged overnight by something completely out of my control. I would never wish this on any other developer, and I truly hope no one else on this platform has to go through the way Roblox has handled this with us.
⚠️ Scammer Ex @Loserfruit@ItsNexiph@BifrostFN — Dev “Jake” scammed me out of $1,500 (Full story + proof via screenshots below)
This was 5-7 months ago. I didn't want to go public because I'm all about positivity growth and I didn't want any drama on my name when I was still small and growing. But I just saw he is looking for work and a lot of credible people that I really respect personally are vouching for him, so I need to speak out so that what happened to me doesn't happen to them.
First time speaking out on something like this, so bear with me.
3 people involved:
Me (Ake) – manager, handling all costs
Jake – level designer
My partner Lets call him “Mike” – map owner of the project
We were looking for a city builder. Jake used to like and repost my content often. Coincidentally, he posted that he was looking for work so I contacted him and vouched for him to join us.
We agreed on $2,500 for a full custom city RP map (level design). He said he could finish in a month I gave him 3 months.
We created a Discord group (me, Mike, Jake). I explained my vision Jake fully agreed. Mike was my biggest partner at that time, honestly the best person I have ever worked with. The builder's cost was on me, but Mike offered to pay Jake what a goat . I thought nothing of it since I already negotiated what could go wrong? I told Jake to get his upfront from Mike because I always want my devs to be happy and secure, which Mike did. However, Mike is too good of a guy and sent him more than a normal upfront 1.5k up front for the for the 2.5k, 3-month project without Jake even opening the project. That isn't good to do an upfront like that with a developer that doesn't have a strong portfolio of past clients and is the first time you're working with him.
Jake finally opened the project, stalled for days, then uploaded his own “dream project” which was just a white map and insisted on working on that instead. I said that’s not what we needed and wouldn’t work as a game. He took offense. He was talking to Mike in his DMs and ofc Mike the guy he is said it “looks cool,” jake kept telling me this I responded: I’m the manager responsible for results, not Mike. Your map isn’t playable we want what we asked for in a less direct way ofc.
More stalling. Days later, Jake said it was more work than expected and wanted out. Then he said it's more work than he expected and he wanted out. (I wasn't professional and was insulting?) There was no time wasted on his part?. He was very difficult to manage, acted like a literal child. I said ok sure, but please return the big upfront he got, which he agreed to. Which he ghosted both of us and didn't.
I vouched for him and I took responsibility for this 30-year old's actions. Mind you, at the time I was 17, and the $1500 he owed Mike was all I had in my account and returned the owned amount from my pocket. So W me😁 .
For 2 months, I kept messaging Jake on Discord and X DMs to return the money or I’d go public. Ghosted.
I ultimately decided to avoid drama at that stage of my career looking back ,that was probably a mistake.
Now I’ve just discovered:
He’s blocked me on X
I can’t find his Discord anymore
He appears to be looking for more work or more victims.
Summary:
I found Jake, vouched for him.
Agreed on 2.5k.
My partner Mike kindly offered to pay and sent $1.5k upfront.
Jake imported his old city map (not what we wanted).
He got angry when I said no → ghosted.
I took responsibility for vouching for him and paid Mike back every dollar I had $1,500.
Lessons learned:
Never let a partner handle dev payments without you they may structure payments poorly (here, a single upfront > 50% for a 3-month project).
Jake is a scammer.
His portfolio was weak for someone claiming dev experience that was a red flag I should’ve caught.
Jake is now looking for work again. Don't hate but spread the word he’s a scammer don't work with him.
To my knowledge, there have been at least two payments. I’ll share the biggest one here.
He blocked me on X, so my DMs don’t go back far. He blocked me on Discord I can’t even see his account.
I have screenshots of our DMs and me explaining the situation to friends months ago all will be below.
I’ve financially recovered currently balling 🕺and learned some hard lessons.
I thought he had left the space but no he didn't. he ran from his problems, blocked us, and act like nothing happened.
Like seriously, dude blocking. We could have at least talked it out.
@Crypticinvest1 When are you going to show a single game / success of yours? You're the biggest Roblox larp on all of twitter. Couldn't show me a fucking band if you wanted to
Its absolutely crazy how Roblox is so willing to just trample over developers livelihoods and their communities by completely nuking a whole genre. Due to medical issues I haven't been able to create new games for months, I've only been able to maintain Draw & Donate after Roblox has unfairly killed my other games (Explained in the photo).
It is absolutely terrifying having to rely on a platform like this, although they famously don't like going back on their actions despite all the negatives, I pray they don't go through with this. I've played Roblox since I was 6 years old and love this platform to death and I love that I am able to make a career off of it, however the poor treatment and horrible updates from Roblox really makes me question how safe working on this platform really is.