How Roblox’s new age-based account system works for kids

Roblox has launched a new way for users to play based on their age.

Australian children have become among the first in the world to have their accounts age-gated* into two distinct categories, shaping the types of games they can play and the level of chat functionality they are allowed to have.

Read on to find out how the changes will affect you and your friends.

WHAT ARE THE CHANGES?
On Tuesday, Roblox users across Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and the Netherlands logged on to the popular gaming platform to find their accounts had been grouped into distinct categories based on their age.

Kids aged five to eight have been assigned Roblox Kids accounts, while those aged nine to 15 have been given Roblox Select accounts. Roblox users 16 and over have retained standard Roblox accounts.

HOW DO THE CHANGES WORK?
You may remember when Roblox launched facial age checks in December last year. Any user who wanted to use chat had to take a scan of their face before being placed in one of six categories based on age range. Once placed in an age range, the user could only chat with others in that same group.

The new system automatically assigns players aged under 16, as determined through one of these face checks or by a verified* parent, to either a Roblox Kids or Roblox Select account.

Once the user has been assigned an account, they then have access to all the games that Roblox considers appropriate for that age group. The accounts also have different chat settings and parental controls.

YOUNGER KIDS
Those aged five to eight with a Roblox Kids account are now only able to access games with a Minimal or Mild content maturity label*.

All communication has also been disabled by default, which means no chat functionality.

OLDER KIDS
Roblox Select accounts have been assigned to users aged nine to 15. Access has been limited to games with content maturity labels up to and including Moderate.

Default communications settings have remained unchanged for ages nine to 15.

GROWING OLDER
Players automatically transition from Roblox Kids to Roblox Select accounts when they reach age nine, and from Roblox Select to standard Roblox accounts when they reach age 16.

WHAT IF I HAVEN’T DONE AN AGE CHECK?
Players in Australia who haven’t done an age check yet will have a transition period to give them time to complete this process. During this period, players who have self-declared* their age as eight or younger will only have access to Roblox Kids games, while players who have self-declared their age as nine or older will only be able to play Roblox Select games.

Players who have not completed an age check cannot chat on Roblox, regardless of their age.

WHAT WILL THE CHANGES DO?
The age restrictions will stop young users from accessing games deemed inappropriate for their age, unless parental consent has been granted, and will prevent them from using chat functions to communicate with older users.

However, children and teens will still be able to interact with adults, competing with and against them in games.

“In practice, most people end up playing with their friends … and when you talk about playing across age boundaries, you could have the seven-year-old playing with their parents or other family members that they’ve connected with, and we want to allow that,” Roblox chief safety officer Matt Kaufman said.

WHY HAVE THE CHANGES BEEN MADE?
Roblox, a $47 billion business, has come under scrutiny* in Australia and overseas over concerns young children have been exposed to inappropriate content on the platform.

The global chat function has been switched off for under 16s in Australia since December, and the eSafety Commissioner* has previously issued Roblox with a “transparency* notice” ordering it to explain how it was protecting young users.

There have also been widespread calls for the under 16s social media ban* to be expanded to include Roblox and other gaming platforms.

WHY IS AUSTRALIA GETTING THE CHANGES FIRST?
Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and the Netherlands have been the first countries to see these new changes take effect, with other countries, such as the US, to see the changes launched in June.

In News Corp’s Growth Intelligence Centre survey of more than 2000 Australian parents earlier this month, 58 per cent said they wanted the ban to include Roblox.

However, Mr Kaufman said regulators were not the reason Australians were getting the new age-gated account system before other markets.

“Geography drives our decisions more than anything else,” he said.

“Turning something on like this, globally instantaneously*, is a challenge so we tend to roll it out in stages.

“From a time zone perspective, and the way our servers work, most people in Australia and New Zealand are playing with each other.”

Mr Kaufman believes Roblox can set the safety standard for other online platforms.

“Other companies were saying that (age checking) was something that wouldn’t scale*, that it … couldn’t be done as a gate,” he said.

“We have confidence in the technology, we have confidence in our platform … and we hope that it does serve as a benchmark* that others can learn from.”

POLL

GLOSSARY

• age-gated: preventing access based on age limits
• verified: proven
• maturity label: an age-based rating
• self-declared: when the user enters their birthday in their account details without completing the age-verification process
• scrutiny: critically examined
• eSafety Commissioner: the Australian independent online safety regulator who helps to protect citizens and create safer experiences online
• transparency: openness and honesty
• social media ban: the Australian Government recently implemented a social media ban for kids under the age of 16 but gaming platform Roblox wasn’t included
• instantaneously: all at the same time
• scale: at a much larger size
• benchmark: example of how to do something well

EXTRA READING
Massive change coming to Roblox
U16 social media ban becomes law
Landline coming back to the future

QUICK QUIZ
1. What has changed on Roblox for Australian users?
2. What are the three different age-based accounts?
3. In what way does Roblox Kids differ to Roblox Select?
4. Why was the change launched in Australia before some other countries?
5. What do users need to do if they want to use chat?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What more can be done?
Write three additional rules that you think could, along with the age limits, make Roblox safer for younger kids.

Time: Spend at least 15 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Information Technologies, Personal and Social Capability

2. Extension
As you know, social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram are banned for kids under 16 in Australia. Do you think platforms like Roblox should also be banned? Write a list of very convincing reasons why and why not.

Time: Spend at least 20 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Digital Technologies, Personal and Social Capability

VCOP ACTIVITY
BAB it!
Show you have read and understood the article by writing three sentences using the connectives “because’’, “and”, and “but” (BAB). Your sentences can share different facts or opinions, or the same ones but written about in different ways.