Roblox has announced that the infamous "oof" sound effect that plays whenever someone dies has been removed from the game due to a "licensing issue."
Roblox announced the removal via its official Twitter account, letting fans know that it has replaced the sound with a default one starting from today. It also explains that "a whole range of both old and new sounds" will be made available in the Avatar Shop in the future and tells fans to stay tuned for more info.
Roblox doesn't go into any detail about this "licensing issue," but older fans familiar with the title will know that this is likely to do with the sound's original creator Tommy Tallarico, the current CCO of Intellivision. Tallarico had originally created the noise for an action game called Messiah back in 2000 and contacted Roblox developers in 2019 after being made aware of the similarities between his sound and the famous "Oof" sound used in the game.
Tallarico didn't sue, instead choosing to work with Roblox on an outcome that benefitted both parties. The sound was turned into a microtransaction that could be licensed by developers for around $1 (100 Robux) of which Tallarico presumably got a cut from each sale. Tallarico still owns the "Oof" sound effect so the "licensing issue" is likely him removing Roblox's ability to sell it, although the details are unknown at the moment.
However, Roblox does mention in a tweet earlier in the thread that a part of its upcoming roadmap is letting players add sounds to their Avatars directly from creators and licensors, so there's a possibility that the "Oof" sound effect could return if Tallarico decides to sell it himself in the Avatar Shop. For now though, a piece of Roblox history is gone.