Roblox has made AI-powered facial age estimation mandatory for all chat users worldwide. With Kids and Select accounts rolling out globally in June 2026, the platform’s safety infrastructure is fundamentally changing for its 132 million daily active users.
Roblox now requires every user who wants to access chat features to complete an AI-powered facial age estimation check. The system went globally mandatory in January 2026, affecting the platform’s 132 million daily active users. Combined with the new Roblox Kids and Roblox Select account tiers rolling out from June 2026, the way young players experience the platform has changed at a fundamental level.
How Does Roblox’s Video Selfie Age Check Work?
The process itself is straightforward. Users open the Roblox app, grant camera access, and record a short video selfie. This footage is sent to Persona, a third-party identity verification vendor, which uses AI-driven facial analysis to estimate the user’s age. Based on the result, Roblox assigns each user to one of six age tiers: under 9, 9 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20, and 21 and over.
According to Roblox, the technology achieves a Mean Absolute Error of 1.4 years for users under 18, a figure that has been tested and certified by independent third-party laboratories. Users aged 13 and older have the alternative option of submitting a government-issued photo ID instead of a video selfie. For users under 9, parental consent is required to complete the check.
All images and video are deleted immediately after secure processing, according to both Roblox and Persona. The platform states that no raw biometric data is stored on its servers or retained by the vendor. Persona’s default configuration is set to automatically delete personal data once the verification outcome is reached.
What Are Roblox Kids and Roblox Select Accounts?
Announced in April 2026 and rolling out globally from early June, Roblox has introduced a three-tier account system based on verified age:
| Account Type | Age Range | Chat Access | Content Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roblox Kids | 5 to 8 | All chat disabled by default. Parents with linked accounts can enable in-game chat. | Games rated Minimal or Mild only, passing an expanded review process. |
| Roblox Select | 9 to 15 | Gradually introduced with safeguards. Users chat with their own age group. Trusted Connections allow contact with real-life acquaintances. | Games rated up to Moderate, passing an expanded review process. |
| Roblox | 16 and older | Full chat access where available. Age check required. | All games except Restricted (18+). |
Games available to Kids and Select accounts go through additional screening beyond Roblox’s standard moderation. Developers who want their games accessible to under-16 users must meet updated verification requirements. Social hangout experiences, free-form drawing features, and one-to-one in-game chat are excluded from both Kids and Select catalogues.
What Happens If the System Gets Your Age Wrong?
No age estimation system is perfect, and Roblox acknowledges this directly. Since the January rollout, reports surfaced of adults being classified as minors and children being estimated as older than they actually are. Roblox provides three correction paths:
- One-time reset: Users estimated at 18 or older can trigger a single reset through Account Settings, prompting a fresh age check.
- Parental correction: Parents with a linked account can adjust their child’s age once after the initial check through Parental Controls.
- ID verification: Any user with a valid government ID can override the estimation result by submitting official identification.
Behind the scenes, Roblox also monitors user behaviour to detect significant mismatches between profile age and actual usage patterns. When a mismatch is flagged, the user is prompted to complete a new age check.
The Privacy Debate Around Persona
While Roblox insists that all biometric data is immediately deleted, the choice of Persona as the verification vendor has attracted scrutiny. In February 2026, security researchers discovered an exposed Persona frontend revealing that the software can perform 269 distinct verification checks, including facial recognition against watchlists, adverse media screening, and device fingerprinting capabilities. Discord subsequently dropped Persona as its age verification provider following these findings.
Roblox has continued its partnership with Persona, maintaining that only the age estimation function is used for its platform. The company’s chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman, has defended the technology’s accuracy and stated that “nothing is stored” and data is “hard-deleted” after processing. Users who remain uncomfortable with the video selfie option can use government ID verification instead, though this obviously carries its own privacy considerations.
How Has This Affected Roblox’s Player Count?
The mandatory age check rollout has had a measurable impact on Roblox’s user numbers. Daily active users fell from a peak of 152 million in Q3 2025 to 132 million in Q1 2026, a decline of roughly 20 million users in six months. The rollout began in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands in December 2025 before expanding globally in January 2026.
Roblox CEO David Baszucki acknowledged in the Q1 2026 earnings call that the age check created “greater-than-expected headwinds” that “slowed new user acquisition” and “restricted on-platform communication for non-age-checked users.” By the end of Q1, 51 percent of global daily active users had completed age verification, rising to 65 percent in the United States. Roblox’s stock dropped 18 percent after the earnings report, and the company cut its full-year 2026 bookings forecast by nearly $900 million.
Despite the user decline, Q1 2026 revenue rose to $1.4 billion, suggesting that verified users are more valuable on a per-user basis. Russia’s December 2025 ban on Roblox also contributed to the user count drop, though the company cited the age check rollout as the primary factor in slowed growth.
How Trusted Connections Limit Adult-Minor Contact
Roblox renamed its “Friends” system to “Connections” and introduced a special tier called “Trusted Connections.” Age-verified users between 13 and 17 can add each other as Trusted Connections to access unfiltered text chat and social features like the Party system.
Adding someone over 18 as a Trusted Connection requires proof of a real-life relationship, verified either through an in-person QR code scan or through Roblox’s Contact Importer feature linked to a phone number. This is specifically designed to prevent strangers from gaining unfiltered communication access to minors. Users under 13 cannot create Trusted Connections at all.
By default, chat is restricted to users within the same or adjacent age tiers. For example, a user in the 9 to 12 bracket can communicate with those under 9 and those in the 13 to 15 bracket, but not with adults.
Why Roblox Made This Move
The age verification push came amid significant legal pressure. Attorneys general in Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and other US states filed lawsuits alleging that Roblox exposed minors to predators, inappropriate content, and exploitative practices. Roblox positions the age check as an industry first, claiming to be the first major online gaming platform to require facial age verification for all chat users. The company partnered with the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) in September 2025 to provide standardised content ratings alongside the age estimation technology.
Roblox has described its approach as building “the gold standard for communication safety.” Whether the trade-off between user loss and improved safety pays off long-term remains an open question, but the platform is clearly committed to this direction regardless of short-term costs.
What Players Usually Ask
Can I play Roblox without completing age verification? Yes. Age verification is only required for chat features. General gameplay remains accessible without verification, though unverified users are limited to Minimal and Mild content only and cannot communicate with other players.
Is the video selfie mandatory? It is the fastest method, but users aged 13 and older can verify through government-issued ID instead. Parents can also verify a child’s age through a linked parental account.
Do existing accounts need to do anything? Existing accounts are automatically migrated to the new tier system. No manual action is needed. Once a user completes an age check, the system assigns the appropriate account type (Kids, Select, or standard). Users transition automatically as they age: from Kids to Select at 9, and from Select to standard at 16.
What about account security during these changes? Roblox has never supported image sharing through chat, and chat has never been encrypted by design, allowing the platform to monitor all messages for inappropriate content. The new system adds age-based restrictions on top of existing content filtering and moderation tools.
The age verification rollout marks the most significant structural change to Roblox’s safety architecture since the platform launched in 2006. For players looking to manage their Roblox experience, including buying or selling accounts securely, GamerMarkt’s Roblox section offers a verified marketplace with buyer and seller protections.
