Roblox Introduces Mandatory Age Verification – Townsend Church of England School

Roblox has announced one of its most significant safety upgrades yet: children will soon be prevented from chatting with unknown adults, as part of a global rollout of strengthened protections for young users.

Starting in December for Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands – and expanding worldwide in January – Roblox will require age verification for all accounts that use chat features. The move follows increasing pressure from regulators, safety organisations, and parents concerned about child protection on gaming platforms.

Roblox is introducing two verification methods to ensure safer interactions:

Age ID Verification (for users 13+)

Players aged 13 or older can verify their identity using a government-issued ID. The process takes just a few minutes:

Go to Settings → Account Info

Select “Continue with ID”

Scan a passport, driver’s licence, residency card, or other official ID

Take a selfie to match the ID

Receive immediate pass/fail confirmation

Facial Age Estimation (for younger users)

For younger players, Roblox will use facial age estimation to place users into age bands (Under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, 21+) and automatically restrict who they can chat with. Children under 13 will continue to be blocked from private messaging unless a parent grants permission.

With more than 80 million daily users, many of them children, these changes aim to reduce well-documented risks raised by safety groups – including the NSPCC – and help platforms meet rising regulatory expectations such as the UK’s Online Safety Act.

Roblox is now the first major gaming platform to implement facial age verification for chat, signalling what may become a major step toward more proactive, verifiable digital safety across the industry.

Ms L Gibbons
Assistant Headteacher