• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

After testing proprietary facial-recognition technology in December, Roblox has announced that it is rolling out new mandatory age-verification measures to users across the globe. 

The social gaming giant issued a statement this week explaining that in order to access communication features within the platform, users must now allow the Roblox app to access their camera, then complete step-by-step facial verification.

The company has partnered with Persona, a third party company, to process verification, and promises to delete any related images and videos after the process is completed.

Officially the largest social gaming platform in the world, Roblox has been the subject of lawsuits and mounting reports citing its alleged failure to implement basic safety controls, with adults posing as children and preying on underage users in sexually explicit in-game experiences.

Last year, Bloomberg deemed Roblox “an X-rated pedophile hellscape.”

In response, Roblox issued a statement pledging to verify users’ ages with a system combining “facial age estimation technology, ID age verification, and verified parental consent.”

“Leveraging multiple signals, Roblox is constantly evaluating user behavior to determine if someone is significantly older or younger than expected,” the company’s recent blog post explains. “In these situations, Roblox will soon ask users to repeat the age-check process.”

In addition, users who are 13 and older have the option to verify their age through ID verification instead of facial verification to chat with other players during game play.

Users can also appeal the age-check process if they feel it incorrectly estimated their age through the facial-verification process. 

Parents also have the option to manually update their child’s age for them.

Following the age verification process, users will only be able to chat with other users in their specified age range, as well as in the group directly above and below theirs.

Roblox’s announcement lists six different age categories that now define chat groups: under 9, 9 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20, and 21 plus.

However, the chat feature is not accessible to any users under the age of 9, unless a parent grants them access. 

Taking measures to protect younger users on its platform comes as player and brand engagement reach all-time highs. 

According to an end-of-the-year report from immersive gaming media company Gamefam, Roblox boosted its users base by 70% compared to 2024, with 152 million daily active users.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha are now spending an average of 2.7 hours per day on Roblox, surpassing the time spent on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube among these age groups.

Over 600 brand games and campaigns were launched on Roblox in 2025 -- up from 400 branded experiences launched the previous year.

In total, brand games on Roblox saw 2.8 billion visits and 32.6 billion minutes played.