Roblox Is Splitting Into Three Platforms — Here's What That Means for Every Player
Roblox is fundamentally changing how its youngest users experience the platform, and the ripple effects will hit everyone — from five-year-olds playing Adopt Me to adults grinding through horror experiences. According to the official Roblox newsroom, the company is rolling out two new account tiers — Roblox Kids and Roblox Select — starting today in Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, with a global launch following in early June 2026.
This isn't a minor settings tweak. It's a structural overhaul that segments Roblox's massive user base into three distinct tiers based on verified age, each with different content access, chat permissions, and parental controls. If you play Roblox, know someone who does, or develop games on the platform, these changes will affect you directly.
We've been tracking Roblox's evolving approach to child safety across our Roblox news coverage, and this is the most significant policy shift we've seen from the company. Let's break down what's actually changing, what it means for players at every age, and where we think Roblox got it right — and where questions remain.
What Are Roblox Kids and Roblox Select Accounts?
Roblox Kids and Roblox Select are two new account types that replace the old one-size-fits-all approach with age-gated tiers offering different levels of access. Roblox Kids covers users aged 5 to 8, Roblox Select covers ages 9 to 15, and the standard Roblox account remains for age-verified users 16 and older. Each tier has its own rules for what games are accessible, whether chat functions work, and how much control parents retain.
The distinction matters because it means a seven-year-old and a fourteen-year-old will no longer have functionally similar experiences on the platform. Roblox Kids accounts feature a visually distinct blue background so anyone glancing at the screen can immediately tell it's a restricted child account. Roblox Select accounts gradually increase permissions as users age from 9 to 15, with chat availability varying by both age and region.
Standard Roblox accounts for users 16 and older retain full access to everything except Restricted (18+) rated content, with chat fully enabled. This is the Roblox experience most current adult players already know.
How Does Roblox Verify Your Age Now?
Roblox now requires an age check through one of two methods: government ID verification or Facial Age Estimation via your device's camera. The Facial Age Estimation technology has been certified by third-party labs with a Mean Absolute Error of within 1.4 years for users under 18 — meaning if you're 12, the system might estimate you're anywhere from about 10.6 to 13.4. All images and video captured during the process are deleted after processing.
That 1.4-year accuracy margin is worth examining. It's a significant improvement over self-declared age, which has historically been the honor system everyone knows doesn't work. But it also means some users will inevitably be placed in the wrong tier. A mature-looking eight-year-old could end up in Roblox Select, and a young-looking ten-year-old might land in Roblox Kids.
Roblox has built correction mechanisms for this. Users estimated at 18 or older get a one-time reset option in Account Settings. Parents with linked accounts can correct their child's age once after the initial check. And anyone with a valid government ID can use ID verification to override the estimate. Behind the scenes, Roblox says it continuously monitors user behavior for age mismatches and will prompt new age checks when discrepancies are detected.
What Games Can Each Account Type Access?
Game access is where these changes hit hardest for the player community. Roblox Kids accounts (ages 5-8) can only access games rated Minimal or Mild that have passed both Roblox's standard safety review and an additional expanded review process. Roblox Select accounts (ages 9-15) can access games rated Minimal, Mild, or Moderate, also subject to extended review. Standard accounts for users 16+ can play everything except Restricted content.
Both Roblox Kids and Roblox Select catalogs exclude several categories entirely: games with social hangout or free-form drawing features, games featuring sensitive issues, Roblox Moments (gameplay clip sharing), and in-game one-to-one chat. Developers who want their games available to users under 16 will need to meet updated criteria that go beyond the current requirements.
For players who rely on our best Roblox games recommendations, this means the landscape is shifting. Some popular titles that currently attract players across all ages may not clear the expanded review process for younger tiers. Horror games — a genre we cover extensively in our best Roblox horror games roundup — will almost certainly be limited to Roblox Select at minimum, if not restricted entirely to standard accounts.
How Does Chat Work Under the New System?
Chat restrictions represent the most dramatic change for younger users. Roblox Kids accounts have all chat completely disabled by default. Parents with a linked account can choose to enable in-game chat, but the default is total silence. For a platform built around social interaction, this is a bold move that prioritizes safety over engagement for the youngest cohort.
Roblox Select accounts take a graduated approach. Chat permissions increase as users age from 9 to 15, with the specifics varying by region. Where chat is available, kids and teens can communicate with users in their own age group — meaning a 10-year-old won't be chatting with a 15-year-old. The system also introduces "Trusted Friends," a designation for people a child knows outside of Roblox, who can communicate across age boundaries.
The critical design principle here is limiting contact between children and adults they don't already know. This has been the central concern driving most online child safety regulation worldwide, and Roblox is implementing it at the platform level rather than waiting for government mandates to force their hand.
What Do Parents Actually Control?
Parents with linked accounts get granular controls that go significantly beyond what was previously available. They can approve or block specific games for their child, adjust chat permissions within the bounds of their child's account tier, and correct their child's estimated age once after the initial age check. The linked account itself requires an age check, ensuring that parental controls are actually operated by adults.
Denny Handlin, a member of Roblox's Global Parent Council based in Australia, described the update as giving parents the ability to "approve games and customize the experience to fit our own children's needs." Whether the average parent will actually engage with these controls is another question entirely — but the tools are there for those who want them.
The parent-linking requirement adds a layer of accountability that most competing platforms lack. It's not enough to check a box saying you're a parent; you need to verify your own age through the same ID or facial estimation process.
Why This Matters for Players
Let's be direct about what this means in practice. If you're an adult Roblox player, the immediate impact is minimal — your experience stays largely the same, though you'll need to complete an age check if you haven't already. Check out our best Roblox games for adults list for titles that take full advantage of the unrestricted tier.
If you're a developer, the stakes are much higher. Games that don't meet the expanded review criteria will lose access to the under-16 demographic — which represents a massive chunk of Roblox's player base. The new developer requirements haven't been fully detailed yet, but the direction is clear: if you want young players in your game, you'll need to meet a higher bar for content and safety.
For families, this is arguably the first time a major gaming platform has implemented age verification and content gating at this scale. The graduated system — where a nine-year-old gets meaningfully different access than a six-year-old — is more nuanced than the binary child/adult split most platforms use. It acknowledges that a teen's needs are different from a kindergartner's, which sounds obvious but has been remarkably rare in practice.
The broader industry implications are significant too. If Roblox's system works well and reduces incidents involving minors, expect other platforms to adopt similar approaches. If the age estimation technology proves frustrating or inaccurate at scale, it could set back the cause of age verification across the industry. Either way, Roblox is running the experiment that everyone else is watching.
Players who use codes and guides from sites like ours — whether you're looking up Blox Fruits codes or browsing our Roblox guides — should note that some game access may change depending on your verified age tier. The games themselves aren't changing, but who can play them is.
What We Think
Roblox deserves credit for building something genuinely thoughtful here. The three-tier system with graduated permissions is smarter than the binary approaches most platforms default to. The facial age estimation technology, while imperfect, is a practical solution that balances accuracy against the friction of requiring every user to produce government ID. And the correction mechanisms — one-time resets, parental overrides, ID verification — show that Roblox anticipated the edge cases where the system will fail.
That said, several concerns linger. The 1.4-year accuracy margin means a non-trivial number of users will be miscategorized, and while correction tools exist, they require active intervention from users or parents who may not realize there's a problem. The regional variation in chat permissions adds complexity that could confuse families who move between countries or travel frequently.
We're also watching the developer side closely. Roblox's strength has always been its creator ecosystem, and adding new requirements for under-16 access could discourage smaller developers who lack the resources to meet expanded review criteria. If the most creative indie experiences end up locked behind age gates not because of their content but because of process barriers, that would be a loss for the platform.
The exclusion of social hangout games and free-form drawing features from younger tiers is a pragmatic but heavy-handed choice. These are legitimate creative activities, and while we understand the moderation challenges they present, it's worth questioning whether blanket exclusion is the right answer versus better moderation tooling.
Overall, this is a net positive for the Roblox ecosystem. Perfect? No. But it's a serious, multi-layered approach to a problem that most platforms have addressed with little more than a checkbox asking if you're over 13. We'll be tracking how the global rollout goes and reporting on any issues through our gaming news coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts launch globally?
Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts are rolling out starting May 19, 2026 in Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. The global rollout begins in early June 2026. All existing users will need to complete an age check to be placed into the appropriate account tier.
Can parents override the age estimation if it gets their child's age wrong?
Yes. Parents with a linked account can correct their child's age once after the initial age check through Parental Controls. Users can also use government ID verification to override the facial age estimate at any time. Additionally, users estimated at 18 or older have access to a one-time reset in their Account Settings to redo the age check.
Will my child lose access to games they currently play on Roblox?
Potentially, yes. Roblox Kids accounts (ages 5-8) are limited to games rated Minimal or Mild that pass an expanded review process. Roblox Select accounts (ages 9-15) can access Minimal, Mild, and Moderate rated games. If your child currently plays a game rated above their new tier's limit, or if the game hasn't passed the expanded review, they will lose access. Parents can approve specific games through their linked parental controls.
Is Facial Age Estimation safe and private?
Roblox states that all images and video captured during Facial Age Estimation are deleted after processing. The technology has been tested and certified by third-party labs with an accuracy of within 1.4 years for users under 18. No biometric data is stored long-term, according to Roblox's published privacy commitments. Users who prefer not to use facial estimation can verify their age with a government ID instead.
What happens to chat for kids under the new system?
Roblox Kids accounts (ages 5-8) have all chat disabled by default. Parents can enable in-game chat through a linked account. Roblox Select accounts (ages 9-15) get gradually increasing chat access based on age and region, limited to communication with users in the same age group and designated Trusted Friends. One-to-one in-game chat is disabled for all accounts under 16.
