The digital playground that captivated a generation is growing up alongside its users. Roblox, the immensely popular gaming platform with over 70 million daily active users, recently announced significant updates to its age verification system—a move that reflects the evolving nature of its community and growing concerns about online safety.
During my visit to Roblox headquarters last month, I witnessed firsthand how the company is navigating the delicate balance between creating safe spaces for its youngest users while acknowledging that nearly half of its player base is now over 13 years old. The platform’s latest verification features specifically target enhanced communication options for teens and adults while maintaining strict protections for children.
The updated system introduces what Roblox calls “unfiltered chat” for users 17 and older who complete the age verification process. This allows adults to engage in more mature conversations without the algorithmic content filters that have long been a cornerstone of the platform’s safety infrastructure. For teens aged 13-16, a “teen-to-teen communication” feature provides an intermediate level of filtering that acknowledges their developing maturity while still offering protections.
“We’ve been working on age verification technology for several years,” explained Laura Higgins, Director of Community Safety at Roblox, during our interview. “The reality is that Roblox isn’t just for kids anymore. We’re creating experiences that appeal to all ages, and our safety features need to evolve accordingly.”
The verification process itself employs a combination of ID document scanning and what the company calls “liveness checks”—essentially a selfie video that uses machine learning to confirm the user matches their identification and is physically present. This dual-layer approach aims to prevent workarounds that tech-savvy young users might attempt.
Privacy experts have expressed measured support for the system. According to data from the Family Online Safety Institute, 71% of parents approve of age verification for social platforms, though concerns about data security remain. Roblox maintains that verification information is encrypted, stored separately from user accounts, and deleted after the verification process completes.
For parents, the changes represent both opportunity and challenge. The platform that many embraced as a relatively safe digital environment for younger children now explicitly accommodates adult conversations—albeit in separate, verified spaces.
“Age-appropriate experiences should scale with users as they mature,” notes Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital. “The alternative is that teens and young adults simply migrate to less regulated platforms when they outgrow existing safety constraints.”
The technology arrives amid increasing regulatory pressure. The UK’s Online Safety Act and California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code both require platforms to implement age verification and age-appropriate safety measures. Other states are following suit with similar legislation, creating a complex compliance landscape for digital platforms serving multiple age groups.
What makes Roblox’s approach notable is its granularity. Rather than simply creating an adult/child binary, the system acknowledges developmental stages with corresponding communication privileges. Users under 13 remain in heavily filtered environments, teens can communicate with age peers with moderate filtering, and adults can engage in unfiltered conversations within verified spaces.
The introduction has not been without criticism. Some digital rights advocates worry about normalizing ID verification across online spaces, potentially creating barriers to digital participation. Others question whether the technology can truly prevent determined younger users from accessing adult-oriented content.
In my testing of the verification system, the process took approximately three minutes—quick enough to not frustrate users but thorough enough to seem legitimate. The system rejected deliberately obscured ID documents and detected when I tried to use a photograph instead of my actual face during the liveness check.
For a platform that began as a physics simulation program in 2004 before evolving into a global creative ecosystem, these changes represent an acknowledgment that digital communities must grow alongside their users. As younger millennial and Gen Z users who grew up with Roblox enter adulthood, the platform faces the challenge of retaining them without compromising safety for its youngest participants.
The verification rollout is happening gradually, with full implementation expected by early 2024. For parents, educators, and users, the changes underscore the importance of digital literacy and open conversations about online safety across age groups.
The development marks a significant shift in how gaming platforms approach user segmentation and safety—one that other companies will likely watch closely as they navigate similar challenges in increasingly age-diverse digital communities.
