Roblox: Why has the 'oof' sound effect gone?

The famous 'oof' sound effect has been removed from Roblox.

Roblox announced the news on their social media, saying: "due to a licensing issue we have removed the "oof" sound from Roblox and have created a replacement default sound which launches today."

Previously when a character 'died' or respawned in Roblox, they heard a sound effect that said 'oof'.

The sound effect is hugely popular, and is well known in and out of the Roblox community - it has been used in countless memes and videos around the world.

As of 26 July 2022, fans will hear a different default sound effect when their character respawns.

Where did the 'oof' sound effect come from?

The "oof" sound effect wasn't made by anyone at Roblox; it was actually made by a man named Tommy Tallarico.

Tommy has worked in the video games industry as composer - meaning he made the music and sound effects in games - for more than 30 years, and is the former CEO of the gaming company Intellivision.

The 'oof' sound effect was originally used in a game Tommy worked on that was released in 2000.

Fast forward to 2019 and Tommy discovered how similar the Roblox "oof" sound effect was to the sound he made for the game he worked on, so he decided to contact Roblox.

In 2020 an agreement was reached between Tommy and Roblox, which meant that anyone making a Roblox experience would have to pay $1 (around 83p or 100 Robux) to be able to use the sound in their game. Tommy also agreed to work with Roblox to "develop other paid sounds" for them.

He spoke to the BBC in 2020 and said: "It's amazing to think that such a small sound I did over 20 years ago for a different video game ended up being one of the most iconic pop culture audio clips of the 21st century.

"I would hear kids saying it on playgrounds and didn't even realize that they were repeating something I had created over two decades ago."

However, now two years later, in their latest announcement Roblox has confirmed that the famous 'oof' sound effect would be removed.

For now, it seems like fans will have to bid farewell to the 'oof' sound effect.

What do you think? Are you sad the sound effect has gone, or do you think it is time for a change? Let us know in the comments below!