Games like Roblox and Minecraft have an inherently social aspect to them in addition to being mostly creativity-based. Not only they allow to emulate some of the social contacts that are currently impossible due to the pandemic, they also make some things possible at all due to the flexibility of the game engines that does not exist in reality. (Compare e.g. asking the question of "Do you know how to make TNT? I need some for an experiment" on a Minecraft server and on a busy airport.)
there’s a balance. 2.5 hours spent on average means there’s kids spending much longer on this each day. i get there’s a creativity aspect to it but it still seems like a lot of time, to the point where it’s likely bordering on addiction level.
I feel you haven’t played MMOs or online games in general. Yes, they can become a time sink, but there are worse time sinks out there ;)
Edit: Note that I and others from my generation grew up spending hours playing MMOs, and we turned out fine. As responsibilities come up to the forefront, the majority of people adapt.
I think the more concerning trend is social media addiction. With games, there is at least an interactive element. Social media use is as passive as you can get.
