Roblox is tightening access to its chat features by rolling out mandatory facial age verification worldwide, following months of lawsuits and investigations tied to child safety on the platform. The global launch comes after the company quietly tested the system in a handful of markets last month.
According to TechCrunch, under the new policy, users who want to chat must complete an age-check process inside the Roblox app. That process requires granting camera access and following on-screen instructions for facial verification. Roblox says any images or videos captured during verification are deleted once the check is complete. The process is handled by a third-party vendor, Persona, which Roblox says also deletes all images and videos after verification.
Users aged 13 and older can choose an alternative option by verifying their age with a government-issued ID instead of facial verification. Roblox notes that age checks are not required to play games or access the platform itself, but they are mandatory for any communication features. Without verification, chat remains locked.
If the system misjudges a user’s age, Roblox says there are appeal options. Users can reverify through ID checks or use parental controls that allow parents to update their child’s age if it was incorrectly flagged.
“Leveraging multiple signals, Roblox is constantly evaluating user behavior to determine if someone is significantly older or younger than expected,” the company wrote in a blog post. “In these situations, Roblox will soon ask users to repeat the age-check process.”
Once verified, users gain access to age-based chat groups designed to limit large age gaps in conversations. The six groups range from under 9 to 21 plus, and users can only communicate with people in adjacent age brackets. Chat is disabled by default for children under 9 unless a parent provides consent after an age check.
The new requirement arrives as Roblox faces lawsuits from the attorneys general of Texas and Louisiana, among others, over allegations that the platform exposed children to risks such as grooming and explicit content. Roblox says the updated system is more accurate than relying on users to self-report their birth year when creating an account.
