A month after introducing mandatory face verification to access chats on its platform, Roblox says 45% of its daily active users have undergone age verification as of January 31.
Roblox’s launch of age checks followed a wave of child safety lawsuits, including those from Texas attorneys general. Kentuckyand Louisiana. The lawsuits were filed in response to reports that Roblox exposed young users to dangerous risks such as grooming and explicit content.
To complete the age verification process, users must open the Roblox app, allow access to their camera, and follow a series of on-screen instructions for face verification. Once age verification is processed, Roblox says it deletes any images or videos of users. Verification is processed by a third party vendor, Personalitywhich also deletes images and videos after the process is complete, Roblox says.
Once users pass an age check, they can access age-based chats, 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 and over. Users in each age group can chat with people in the groups directly above and below their own. For example, users in the 9-12 category can chat with people in their own group, as well as people under 9 and 13-15.
If the age verification process misjudges the user’s age, they can appeal the decision and verify their age through alternative methods, including identity verification or through parental controls that allow parents to update their child’s age.
The company said during its Q4 2025 earnings announcements This week, this age-controlled data reveals a younger user base than self-reported data. This is no surprise, and even Roblox itself said it expected this result. Of the 45% of age-verified users, 35% are under 13, 38% are between 13 and 17, and 27% are over 18.
As the company launched the new process, some concerns were raised about specific loopholes. For example, Wired reported that eBay had listings for Roblox accounts verified for minors as young as nine. Although eBay has removed the listings, there are still concerns that predators could gain access to 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 verification 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 signs in your account that indicate that the age we now have on that account is inconsistent with the activity on that account. Whether it’s the types of games you’re playing or who you’re talking about. We also have keystroke analysis. The way adults type is different than the way kids type. [we have] several systems running in the background to ensure the age is accurate for the person actually using the account. And if we have any reason to believe it’s not accurate, we’ll introduce additional checks to make sure we’re getting it right.”
He 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 generations 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 increase revenue.
“We were able to find a greater growth opportunity in the 18-plus demographic than previously assumed,” Baszucki said. “We estimate that the 18+ cohort is growing at over 50%, and this cohort is generating 40% more revenue than younger cohorts.”
He went on to say that Roblox is optimizing its platform to facilitate the development of high-grossing genres popular with older users, such as shooters, RPGs, sports and games.
Roblox says it will continue to strengthen its security measures to meet evolving risks and user needs.
