estimation

Roblox has announced it will expand its age estimation requirement to all users of the platform who access its communication features by the end of the year.

Back in July, the platform introduced new safety features, including an AI used to estimate a user’s age through video selfie. Now, in a new statement, the company plans to roll out age verification for all users, through facial age estimation, ID age verification, and verified parental consent.

Roblox also plans to limit communication between adults and minors, unless they know each other in the real world.

“These added layers of protection will help provide users with access to developmentally appropriate features and content,” reads the statement from chief safety officer Matt Kaufman. “We hope this move sets a standard that other gaming, social media, and communication platforms follow.”

In addition to age estimation, Roblox has made a number of other advancements in its safety features:

Introducing Trusted Connections, as per its previous update, to safeguard communication
Using its open-source AI system Roblox Sentinel to detect early signs of child endangerment
Improving voice and text filters
Rolling out new technology to detect specific servers where large numbers of users are breaking rules
Refining its avatar detection model to scan for player characters breaking rules

Since January 2025, Roblox has shipped over a hundred safety initiatives in an effort to prove its commitment to child safety.

This is in response to numerous reports of questionable safety, for which Roblox has long been criticised.

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Roblox will roll out selfie-based “facial age estimation technology” as a mandatory requirement for all of its players, as part of efforts to “limit communications” between minors and adults they don’t know.

The corporation behind the massive game filled with smaller games, many of which are made by young people, say they aim to bring in this measure by the end of 2025. The news is part of a “long-term” vision for child safety in the wake of the US state of Louisiana’s lawsuit against Roblox Corporation over child safety concerns, with Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill accusing the game of being a “overrun with harmful content and child predators”.

Roblox chief safety officer Matt Kaufman wrote in an announcement spotted by PC Gamer that this age estimation tech will be deployed to everyone who uses the game’s built-in communications systems, and will work alongside the likes of ID age verification and parental consent to “provide a more accurate measure of a user’s age than simply relying on what someone types in when they create an account.” On top of that, they promise “new systems” to limit minors’ interactions with adult strangers.

“We’re taking this step as part of our long-term vision as a platform for all ages,” Kaufman added. “We expect that our approach to communication safety will become best practice for other online platforms, whether lawmakers pass laws requiring age verification for all platforms in the future or not.”

Roblox’s facial age estimation works by “analysing a selfie of your face and examining your facial features”, at which point the user’s assigned to one of three groups, under 13, over 13, and over 18. The experience the game offers changes based on which bucket folks land in, and “certain personal data, including your email and phone number, will be removed from Roblox” for those flagged as under 13 years old.

So, it’s a slightly more in-depth iteration of the photo-based age checks you may well have had to do as part of the measures many sites and services have launched in response to the UK’s Online Safety Act, with the likes of credit card and ID checks often being the alternatives. These checks haven’t proven to be totally bulletproof (hello, Norman Reedus’ Death Stranding mug).

In addition to the legal action from Louisiana, Roblox has also faced child safety criticism from politicians like Democrat Ro Khanna. This isn’t the first time the game has made headlines for mistreatment of children, with accusations of exploiting game creators who’re often just kids or teenagers also having been lobbied at it.

Those behind Roblox have annoucned other steps recently to protect kids who are hopping in for a bit of Grow a Garden. That’s included cracking down on “vigilantes” who were impersonating minors in an alleged effort to catch adults behaving inappropriately, something the game’s overseers argued was only confusing matters.

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Roblox continues efforts for child safety by expanding age estimation to all users by end of the year

Roblox to roll out “facial age estimation technology” for everyone, after US prosecutor dubbed it “the perfect place for pedophiles”