Roblox is introducing new account types designed to give children and younger teens age-appropriate access to chat and games. In an announcement on Monday, the company says users aged five to nine will be assigned a “Roblox Kids” account, while users aged nine to 15 will be placed in a “Roblox Select” account. Users 16 and up will use a standard Roblox account, and only users 18 and older can access “Restricted Content,” which Roblox describes as including strong violence, romantic themes, strong language, and more.
Age checks become the control layer
The new account types build on a previous change: Roblox implemented mandatory age checks in January for all users who want to access chats. According to TechCrunch, Roblox will use the same age-check technology to assign users to the new Kids and Select accounts. Users who have not completed age checks will be limited to playing a selection of games rated for younger audiences.
The company also describes a rollout timeline. The new accounts are rolling out globally at the beginning of June. Roblox says it will include a transition period so existing users can go through the age-check process.
From a technology standpoint, the architecture implied by this design is straightforward: an age-check system becomes a routing mechanism that determines both (1) which game catalog is eligible for a user and (2) what communication features are available. The account assignment is tied to the age-check system, and chat availability depends on whether age checks are completed.
What Kids and Select change in chat and game access
Roblox Kids accounts are designed for younger players. According to TechCrunch, Kids accounts will have access to games with “Minimal” or “Mild” content ratings. Roblox’s definitions specify that “Minimal” and “Mild” cover content such as occasional mild violence, mild crude humor, and occasional mild fear.
Chat is treated as a separate control. For children younger than nine, chat will remain off by default. For Kids-account users who are at least nine, the only way they can chat with another user is if a parent selects specific individuals their child is allowed to communicate with.
Roblox Select accounts expand the range of allowed content and enable chat within the same age band. Users on Select accounts will have access to games rated up to “Moderate” and will be able to chat with users in a similar age group.
Parents can also approve specific games for their children that are not available under the account’s default restrictions. For example, if a younger sibling wants to play a game not available on their Roblox Kids account that an older sibling can access, a parent can grant permission to allow that access.
Developer screening and moderation feed the pipeline
Roblox says that both Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts will include only games that have passed Roblox’s screening criteria. The first step is developer verification. According to TechCrunch, developers must meet eligibility requirements before games can be considered for Kids or Select. If developers are under 16, they must complete ID verification or maintain a connection to a linked parent account. Their account must also have two-step verification enabled.
The second screening step is an evaluation process. Roblox will conduct a real-time evaluation of the games with users aged 16 and older, who will play the games first and submit feedback and reports. Roblox says this helps assess the experience before games are made available to younger users. The third step involves gameplay criteria, including having the appropriate content maturity label.
Alongside these screening steps, Roblox says it will use its moderation system to evaluate whether games break its rules.
Regulatory context and timing
Roblox’s recent changes follow lawsuits from attorneys general. According to TechCrunch, lawsuits have been filed against Roblox over child safety concerns, including reports that the platform exposed young users to risks such as grooming and explicit content.
The timing of these technical changes suggests that Roblox is responding with additional gating and screening mechanisms that directly affect how children access games and chat. The new account types represent how a platform can implement safety goals into product logic: age checks determine eligibility, content labels constrain catalogs, chat defaults reduce exposure, and moderation plus developer verification attempt to control the supply of experiences.
Roblox’s plan to roll out globally in early June, along with a transition period for existing users to complete age checks, indicates that the system will require large-scale user migration and ongoing enforcement. Users who have not completed age checks will be restricted to younger-rated games.
Source: TechCrunch