Roblox has started a global rollout of mandatory age verification for users who want to use chat features on its platform. The company said this requirement, which was first tested in a few regions in early December, is now expanding to all markets where chat is available. Users in the United States and other regions will begin seeing in app prompts asking them to complete the age check. The full rollout is expected to be completed within the next week.
In a blog post, Roblox said that age verification is now compulsory for chat, though it remains optional for general gameplay. The company claims it is the first large online gaming platform to require facial age checks for users of all ages before allowing access to chat. Once verified, users are placed into age based chat groups. This system is designed to limit communication between adults and children under 16.
Roblox said tens of millions of daily active users have already completed the process. In Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, where age checks have been mandatory for chat since early December, more than half of daily users have completed verification.
The system mainly uses facial age estimation through a short video selfie captured by the device camera. This process is handled by a third party vendor called Persona. Roblox said all images and videos used for the check are deleted immediately after secure processing and are not stored by the company or the vendor. Users aged 13 and above can also choose to verify their age using a government issued identity document.
After verification, users are grouped into one of six age categories, ranging from under 9 to 21 and over. By default, users can chat only with people in their own age group and the groups directly above or below. For example, users aged 9 to 12 can chat with those under 9 and those aged 13 to 15, but not with adults. Chat remains disabled for children under 9 unless a parent gives consent after age verification.
Roblox said the feature is part of a wider safety framework. The platform blocks image sharing in chat, filters content that violates community standards, and prevents the sharing of personal details between untrusted users. It also provides reporting tools and parental controls.
The company added that independent testing showed a mean absolute error of about 1.4 years for users under 18. Roblox has also built appeal and correction options into the system and plans to expand age checks to more features in the coming months.
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