Roblox to require facial age checks and ID verification for ‘age-appropriate’ chat

Roblox will start requiring facial age checks or ID verification for players accessing its chat features. The gaming giant will begin its phased rollout in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands from the first week of December, before expanding globally in early January 2026, though users can complete age checks voluntarily starting today.

The company said the move is aimed at keeping chat age-appropriate and limiting conversations between minors and adults.

Users will be required to take a photo of their face, which Roblox will use to estimate their age, or provide identification for verification. All images and videos used for verification will be deleted immediately after processing to protect users’ privacy. The checks are handled by ID verification company Persona.

“To keep our youngest users safe, chat in experiences will be turned to default off for users under nine years old, unless a parent provides consent after an age check. Chat outside of experiences remains restricted for users under 13,” Roblox said on Tuesday (Nov 18).

Users will be grouped into six age bands—under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, and over 21—and will only be able to chat within their own or similar age groups.

The gaming giant believes requiring facial age checks to access chat would set a new industry standard.

Early next year, age checks to access social media links on user profiles, communities, and experience details pages will also be required. The same requirement will apply to the Team Create Collaboration feature in Roblox Studio, where users must be in similar age groups to collaborate. /TISG

Read also: Disney to pay US$10M fine after allowing data collection on children under 13, FTC says