Roblox rolls out new child accounts worldwide with stricter safety controls

Dubai: Roblox has launched Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts worldwide, introducing new age-based experiences for users under 16 with stricter default protections, expanded parental controls and limits on chat access.

The global rollout follows a limited launch last month in Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Roblox said the new account system is designed to align game access, communication features and parental controls with a child’s age, while giving parents more visibility over how their children use the platform.

Users will be placed into the relevant account experience automatically through Roblox’s age-check systems. Age-checked users under 16 will continue to have access to the vast majority of their favourite games, while the experience for age-checked users aged 16 and above will remain unchanged.

Roblox Kids accounts are designed for users aged five to eight and carry the platform’s strongest default protections. Children in this age group will have access to a catalogue of games with Minimal or Mild content maturity labels that have passed Roblox’s selection process, while chat will be turned off by default.

Roblox Select accounts are for users aged nine to 15 and will allow access to games rated up to Moderate, provided those games have passed Roblox’s review process. Chat settings will vary by age and region, with additional safeguards remaining in place for users under 16.

In a majority of countries in the Middle East, chat remains unavailable at this time for users of all ages.

Roblox said both account types will apply additional review standards to games made available to younger users, including developer verification, real-time evaluation and enhanced content review. By default, Roblox Kids and Roblox Select catalogues will exclude games featuring sensitive issues, social hangouts and free-form drawing features.

The age-based system will automatically move users into new account experiences as they get older. Users will move from Roblox Kids to Roblox Select at age nine, and from Roblox Select to standard Roblox accounts at age 16.

“Children’s needs change significantly as they grow, and online experiences should adapt alongside them,” said Matt Kaufman, Chief Safety Officer at Roblox. “With Roblox Kids and Roblox Select, we’re creating age-based protections designed to support younger users at different stages, while giving parents tools to personalize the experience for their family.”

The rollout brings age checks, age-based account settings, content ratings, moderation and parental controls into one framework, marking one of Roblox’s biggest child-safety updates.

Roblox is also expanding parental controls for families who link a parent account to a child’s account. Parents already have tools to view gameplay activity and friend lists, while managing content ratings, communication settings, screen time and spending limits.

With the new rollout, Roblox will extend certain parental controls until a child turns 16. These include granular game blocking and direct chat management. A new game approval feature will also allow parents to approve specific games outside their child’s default account settings.

Leonardo S., a Brazil-based father and member of Roblox’s Global Parent Council, said, “These new accounts provide more peace of mind by pairing built-in safeguards with tools that help parents stay connected to their child’s experience. This combination makes it much easier as parents to stay engaged and guide their children’s digital journey as they grow.”

The update builds on Roblox’s wider move toward age-appropriate experiences, including its requirement for facial age checks to access chat features.

Once the rollout is completed, users who have not completed an age check will be unable to access standard Roblox accounts or use Roblox chat features, regardless of their age. In a majority of the Middle East, chat will remain unavailable even for users who have completed age checks.

Roblox said it will continue to block the sharing of links, images and videos in chat. Later this month, users under 16 will also be restricted from sharing or viewing social media links on user profiles, game detail pages, Community pages and the Creator Hub.

Later this year, Roblox will begin moving to the International Age Rating Coalition framework, the globally recognised system for assigning content ratings for digital games and apps.