By Gavin Boyle
In an attempt to make its game safer, Roblox announced a new age-verification system which will determine what social features users can access based on their age.
“Safety has always been foundational to everything we do at Roblox,” Roblox chief safety office Matt Kaufman said in a blog post. “Our goal is to lead the world in safety and civility for online gaming. We’ve spent nearly two decades building sophisticated safety systems, which supports our mission of connecting a billion people every day with optimism and civility.”
“We are dedicated to supporting experiences that are both deeply engaging and empowering for players of all ages, while continuously innovating how all users connect and interact,” Kaufman continued. “Today, we’re taking a significant step forward and announcing an expansion of our safety platform.”
This safety expansion replaces the “friends” title to “connections” and heavily limits the chat functions available to users under the age of 13. Those older than 13 but younger than 18 will be allowed to add other Roblox users to their “trusted connections” list, who they can converse with freely. Furthermore, users over the age of 18 will not be able to communicate with younger users unless a pre-existing real life relationship exists — which will be proven through a QR code of phone contact list.
Roblox further explained that all accounts will start as unverified in age and have the most limits placed on their communication. Players, however, will be able to add their age to access more communication freedoms through a verified ID or Roblox’s new age-estimation technology which will guess a user’s age based on a short video. In the future, parents will also be allowed to enter their child’s age manually.
This safety overhaul comes as Roblox has faced serious allegations in the past for the way the site gives predators and other bad actors easy access to minors. In October 2024, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation called the game a “Pedophile Hellscape” after identifying 38 groups on the game who openly trade child sexual abuse material with its members.
Related: Roblox Reveals Latest Step to Protect Kids. Will It Work?
Furthermore, Roblox has more of an incentive than ever to avoid negative PR as it recently launched a streamlined way for brands to advertise on the site. Movie studios such as Netflix and Lionsgate have already signed on to this feature, allowing their most popular IP — SQUID GAME, STRANGER THINGS, TWILIGHT, DIVERGENT, etc. — to be officially licensed on the site.
“This is the perfect bridge between a platform like Roblox that’s used to moving at such a quick pace and brands that are trying to identify the appropriate partners,” said Todd Lichten, the Head of Entertainment Partnerships at Roblox.
Whatever the true motivation behind this expansion to Roblox’s safety precautions, it is encouraging to see the game truly take child safety seriously and implement real steps to protect the young users on the site.
Read Next: Did You Know You Can Block People on Your Child’s Roblox Account?
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