A month after introducing mandatory facial verification for access to chats on its platform, Roblox says 45% of its daily active users have undergone age checks as of January 31.
Roblox’s launch of age checks followed a wave of lawsuits over child safety, including ones from the attorneys general of Texas, Kentucky, and Louisiana. The lawsuits were filed in response to reports that Roblox was exposing young users to dangerous risks, such as grooming and explicit content.
To complete the age-check process, users have to open the Roblox app, allow access to their camera, and follow a series of on-screen instructions for facial verification. Once the age check is processed, Roblox says it deletes any images or videos of users. The verification is processed by a third-party vendor, Persona, which also deletes images and videos after completing the process, Roblox says.
Once users complete an age check, they can access age-based chat, which means they can only communicate with others in a similar age group. There are six age groups: under 9, 9 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20, and 21 plus. Users in each age group can chat with people in the groups directly above and below theirs. For example, users in the 9-12 category can chat with people in their own group, as well as those in the under 9 and 13-15 groups.
If the age-check process incorrectly estimates a user’s age, they can appeal the decision and verify their age through alternative methods, including ID verification or through parental controls that allow parents to update their child’s age.
The company said during its Q4 2025 earnings release this week that age-checked data reveals a younger user base than self-reported data. This isn’t surprising, and even Roblox itself said it expected this outcome. Of the 45% of users who have undergone age checks, 35% are under 13, 38% are between the ages of 13 and 17, and 27% are over 18.
As the company rolled out the new process, some concerns were raised around particular loopholes. For instance, Wired reported that eBay had listings for age-verified Roblox accounts for minors as young as nine years old. Even though eBay has removed the listings, concerns remain that predators could access accounts posing as minors by tricking the system.
Roblox’s senior director of product policy, Eliza Jacobs, told TechCrunch on Friday that the company has continuous age check systems running in the background to address these concerns and prevent this type of abuse.
Jacobs said the platform looks to see if “there are any signals on your account that indicate that the age that we now have on that account is not consistent with the activity on that account. Whether that’s the kinds of games you’re playing, or who you’re talking to. We also have key stroke analysis. The way adults type is different from the way kids type. So [we have] lots of systems running in the background to ensure that the age is accurate to the person actually using the account. And if we have any reason to believe that it’s not accurate, we will introduce additional checks to make sure that we have it right.”
She noted that another way Roblox looks for age accuracy is by looking at how a person uses emojis. Older generations tend to use emojis at the end of sentences as punctuation, while younger people often place them in the middle of sentences, Jacobs explained.
In addition to using age checks to make its platform safer, Roblox CEO and co-founder David Baszucki said during the company’s earnings call that the data collected as a result of these checks will be used to grow revenue.
“We have been able to find a bigger growth opportunity in the 18-plus demographic than previously assumed,” Baszucki said. “We estimate our 18 and over cohort is growing at over 50%, and this cohort monetizes 40% higher than younger cohorts.”
He went on to say that Roblox is optimizing its platform to facilitate the growth of high-revenue genres popular with older users, such as shooters, RPGs, sports, and racing.
Roblox says it will continue to enhance its safety measures to respond to evolving risks and user needs.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: techcrunch.com
