As one of many greatest online game platforms on the earth, and with a very excessive proportion of minors amongst its participant base, Roblox has needed to make investments closely in belief and security expertise over the previous decade. As a part of its ongoing effort to disrupt abuse, misuse, and hurt, the corporate is rolling out a brand new system to confirm gamers’ age: “age estimation” via evaluation of video selfies.
In a press launch, Roblox introduced that it’s reconfiguring how its social options work to higher shield minors from untrusted or probably exploitative interactions. First, it’s introducing a two-tiered “Connections” system to control how gamers are linked to at least one one other: regular and “Trusted Connections.”
We’re all the time innovating how individuals join on Roblox. At this time, we’re introducing Trusted Connections, Age Estimation, well-being instruments, and new insights for folks—delivering options that elevate connection, transparency, and digital well-being. https://t.co/Pbe3akLnTx pic.twitter.com/c9Cc4pcm5Z
— Roblox (@Roblox) July 17, 2025
Two gamers who’re Trusted Connections will be capable of talk with one another with out restriction, together with by way of celebration and textual content chat with no filters. Nevertheless, turning into Trusted Connections would require clearing a number of hurdles designed to scale back the potential of kid exploitation or different forms of hurt.
Most basically, the Trusted Connections characteristic will solely unlock if gamers confirm their ages, which requires importing an ID or utilizing Roblox’s new Age Estimation mechanism. This new system asks gamers to add a video selfie, which is then processed by the corporate and in contrast towards “a big and numerous dataset,” in keeping with the press launch. Roblox guarantees that this knowledge can be dealt with “securely,” though the precise particulars of its privateness and safety mechanisms associated to video selfies weren’t shared.
Upon verifying age, gamers between 13-17 years previous can create Trusted Connections with each other. If a minor needs to determine a Trusted Reference to a participant over 18 years previous, the minor should affirm a real-life relationship with the opposite individual via a QR code or the importing of a contact listing. Below-13s won’t be able to create these connections.
This effort to higher shield under-18 gamers comes throughout a roller-coaster yr for the corporate. The Roblox platform is host to Develop a Backyard, an expertise which broke Fortnite’s report for many concurrent gamers on-line at one time again in June. Nevertheless, researchers of online communities have continued to sound the alarm on Roblox’s vulnerabilities, particularly associated to little one security.