The Roblox Corporation has unveiled its next step in its plan to better safeguard children on Roblox: the worldwide release of an age-verification system that pairs users with those in similar age groups.
According to the Roblox Corporation, the implementation of this feature makes Roblox āthe first large online gaming platform to require facial age checks for users of all ages,ā but exactly how accurate is it? And, more importantly, does it truly make the platform safer for users under 18?
Considering its target demographic, which consists of those who find shouting “6-7” and whatever the hell āItalian brainrotā is funny, Roblox has the opposite of a squeaky-clean, family-friendly image.
Roblox is banned or otherwise restricted in several countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Russia, Turkey and Palestine, and it’s currently embroiled in 80 active lawsuits. Why? Well, there are actually a few reasons.
Russia, for instance, thinks it will make kids gay (that is, unfortunately, not a joke). The Netherlands and Belgium restricted it because of concerns that the prevalence of loot boxes on Roblox would inspire under-18s to form gambling addictions.
However, the majority of the lawsuits and restrictions concern the reported ease with which child predators have been able to contact children using Roblox.
The Roblox Corporation has been trying to counter these accusations and protect itself from further lawsuits by incorporating more safeguards for children on the platform, including a change to how direct messaging worked in November 2024 that banned users under 13 from messaging other users.
The latest update will now require all users take part in their Facial Age Estimation, which requires users on Roblox to upload pictures and videos to estimate their age.
This was previously launched in select regions towards the end of 2025, but the Roblox Corporation is now rolling this feature out worldwide. According to the press release, this now means that Roblox is the āfirst large online gaming platform to require facial age checks for users of all ages to access chat.ā
So, does it work? Itās potentially too early to tell. However, USA Todayās Rachel Hale didnāt seem too impressed with the accuracy of the Facial Age Estimation checks when she tried it out in late December at Robox Corporationās headquarters.
According to Hale, the Facial Age Estimation checker seemed to think she was ā18 to 20.ā For context, Hale is 24 years old.
Also, am I the only one who sees a bit of an issue with pairing users up based on their estimated age groups? If the Facial Age Estimation check thinks youāre ā9 to 12ā, it will let you chat to anyone under the age of 16 on Roblox.
Surely, if you found a way to trick Roblox into thinking youāre a specific age, wouldnāt thatā¦ make it easier for predators to find and talk to children 16 and under?
Hereās hoping the Roblox Corporation has some more safeguarding ideas in the works, because I donāt think this is quite enough, personally.
