Roblox will need age verification to make sure you’re at least 9 years old

At a glance:

• Roblox will require age verification for any game marked for users nine or older.
• New "Roblox Kids" and "Roblox Select" account tiers will enforce content limits and staged chat activation.
• A three‑step review (ID verification, 2FA, Plus subscription) must be passed before games appear for Kids or Select accounts.

What the new account tiers mean

Roblox is rolling out two distinct account types – Roblox Kids and Roblox Select – to tighten age‑appropriate safeguards. Users who are verified as five to eight years old, or who skip verification entirely, will be placed in a Roblox Kids account. Those accounts can only access games labelled “Minimal” or “Mild” and have chat disabled by default, though parents may manually approve specific contacts.

Roblox Select accounts cover ages nine through fifteen. Players in this tier gain access to games with a “Moderate” maturity label, and chat is gradually enabled based on the user’s exact age. The company’s chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman, explained that the staggered chat rollout aims to balance social interaction with protection against unwanted contact.

How age verification works

When a user attempts to play a game intended for nine‑plus players, Roblox will prompt an age‑verification flow. The system checks government‑issued ID or a parent‑linked account, requires two‑factor authentication, and confirms the user holds a Roblox Plus subscription. More than half of Roblox’s 144 million daily active users have already completed an age check, according to internal data.

If verification determines the user is under nine, the platform automatically assigns a Kids account. Parents who have linked their own account can also set or adjust their child’s age, allowing a seamless transition from Kids to Select and eventually to a standard account as the child grows.

Impact on developers and games

All games that become visible to Kids or Select accounts must pass a three‑step review process. First, the developer must be verified with a government ID or linked to a parent’s account and have 2FA enabled. Second, the developer must hold an active Roblox Plus subscription. Third, the game undergoes Roblox’s real‑time multimodal moderation system, which evaluates content against the new International Age Rating Coalition‑aligned standards (such as ESRB) slated for later this year.

Roblox has not disclosed how long the review will take, but spokesperson Juliet Chaitin‑Lefcourt told The Verge the company wants “enough information about each game” before it appears for Kids or Select users. While the exact catalog of games eligible for the new tiers is still unknown, Roblox believes the majority of popular titles will clear the review and be ready for players when the rollout completes.

New parental controls and global rollout

In addition to the tiered accounts, Roblox is adding parental tools that let parents block individual games for their child until the child reaches 16 years old. These controls sit alongside existing features such as locked sexual content, stricter chat permissions, and mandatory age checks for chat access.

Roblox plans to make the full suite of updates available worldwide by early June. The company hopes the combined approach of age verification, moderated game access, and granular parental controls will address mounting scrutiny from state lawsuits and advocacy groups concerned about child safety on the platform.

What to watch next

The effectiveness of the three‑step review will likely be measured by how quickly developers adapt and whether popular games experience downtime during verification. Observers will also track how many families opt into the new verification flow versus remaining in a default Kids account, as that data will influence future policy tweaks. Finally, the alignment with International Age Rating Coalition standards could set a precedent for other user‑generated content platforms facing similar safety pressures.