Roblox launching age-based accounts, expanding parental controls for users under 16

Roblox announced Monday it will roll out new age-based accounts for young users as the popular gaming platform continues to face criticism and lawsuits over the safety of children.

The California-based company said users between the ages of 5 and 8 will be automatically assigned to a “Roblox Kids” account and users ages 9 to 15 will be enrolled in a “Roblox Select” account. The new accounts will role out in early June.

Users in a Roblox Kids account will not have access to the chat function and will be limited to games with a “Minimal or Mild content maturity label” that has passed the company’s three-step selection process.

Children over the age of 9 in a Select account will be limited to games with content maturity levels “up to and including Moderate” and will continue to have limited chat capabilities as the default communication settings will remain unchanged. Users will automatically transition from Roblox Kids to Roblox Select accounts as they reach age 9.

Both accounts will be determined through the company’s universal age-check system or by a verified parent. Users who haven’t yet completed an age-check will be limited to games rated Minimal or Mild, and all communication will be disabled.

The company said it will also give parents more control to block specific games and manage direct chat settings for their children. 

Earlier this year, Roblox began requiring mandatory age verification for users who want to access online chat features. Users must complete a facial scan to estimate their age before gaining access to chat functions. According to the company, the system places users into age-appropriate default settings, including limits on who they can communicate with.

Since its launch in 2006, Roblox has grown to an average of 144.5 million daily active users with over 35 billion engagement hours, according to its website. Over the years, the company has faced a growing number of lawsuits alleging it failed to adequately protect children from online predators.

Last month, Los Angeles County filed a civil lawsuit against Roblox, alleging that the platform markets itself as a gaming experience for children but has created a “largely unsupervised online world” that allows adults to mingle with minors with very little oversight.

Roblox disputed the county’s claims in a statement to NBC News, saying it “will defend against it vigorously.”

“Roblox is built with safety at its core, and we continue to evolve and strengthen our protections every day,” a company spokesperson said. “We have advanced safeguards that monitor our platform for harmful content and communications, and users cannot send or receive images via chat, avoiding one of the most prevalent opportunities for misuse seen elsewhere online.”