Roblox Kids and Select Accounts: New Age-Based System Launches June 2025 to Fix Child Safety Crisis

Key Takeaways

• Roblox Kids (ages 5-8) will have all chat disabled by default and access only to Minimal/Mild content
• Roblox Select (ages 9-15) gets Moderate content access with parental controls that loosen at age 13
• Age verification will use facial recognition or verified parent confirmation
• The company is adding real-time game evaluation to screen content before kids can access it

Look, we need to talk about Roblox. The platform has become synonymous with two things: massively popular gaming experiences that kids absolutely love, and a string of child safety incidents that would make any parent's blood run cold. The company knows it. And yesterday, they announced what they're hoping will be a major step toward fixing that second problem.

Two New Account Types Are Coming in June

Here's the deal. Come June, Roblox is introducing age-based account categories designed to keep younger kids in safer digital spaces. We're getting Roblox Kids for the 5-8 crowd and Roblox Select for ages 9 through 15. The idea is pretty straightforward: match what kids can see and do on the platform to how old they actually are.

For the youngest users in Roblox Kids, communication is getting locked down hard. All chat features? Disabled by default. These accounts will only have access to games rated with Minimal or Mild content maturity labels. Parents who want to let their kids chat can enable it through a linked parent account, but the default is radio silence. Honestly, that's probably how it should have been from the start.

What Roblox Select Means for Tweens and Teens

The 9-15 age bracket gets a bit more freedom under Roblox Select. These users can access content with Moderate maturity labels, and their communication settings stay at the current defaults. But here's where it gets interesting: once kids hit 13, the parental control options start shrinking.

The company says it's also beefing up how it evaluates games before they show up on kids' accounts. This includes developer verification and something they're calling 'real-time evaluation,' which basically means they're monitoring user reports to catch problematic content faster. Whether this actually works in practice? We'll have to wait and see.

Age Verification: The Big Question Mark

So how does Roblox plan to make sure kids end up in the right account category? Two methods: facial age estimation technology or verification through a parent. The facial scanning option is going to raise some eyebrows, no pun intended. Privacy-conscious parents might not love the idea of their kid's face being scanned by an algorithm to guess their age.

• Facial age estimation scans determine approximate user age
• Parents can verify their child's age through linked accounts
• Both methods are designed to slot kids into appropriate categories
• The system relies on accurate age reporting, which has historically been easy to circumvent on most platforms

And let's be real here. Kids have been lying about their ages on the internet since the internet existed. A determined 12-year-old who wants access to content meant for older users will probably find a way around these restrictions. The question is whether these barriers will be enough to stop casual access to inappropriate content.

Roblox's Very Long Road to Redemption

The company says its dream is 'to become the world's healthiest platform for users of all ages.' That's a bold statement. Like, incredibly bold. Because Roblox's track record on child safety has been, to put it mildly, not great.

“The corporation says its big dream is to become the world's healthiest platform for users of all ages.”

— Roblox Corp official statement

This is a platform that's faced countless reports about predatory behavior, inappropriate content slipping through moderation, and various other safety failures that have made headlines repeatedly. There was even that memorable instance where the CEO described the platform's predator problem as 'an opportunity.' Yeah. That happened.

Will This Actually Make a Difference?

Here's my honest take. These changes are a step in the right direction. Disabling chat for the youngest users makes sense. Age-gating content based on maturity ratings makes sense. More granular parental controls make sense. All of this should have happened years ago, but better late than never, I guess.

The real test will be enforcement. Roblox has millions upon millions of users and a staggering amount of user-generated content. Keeping up with moderation at that scale is genuinely difficult. The company's 'real-time evaluation' system and developer verification processes sound promising on paper, but we've heard promises before.

What Parents Should Do Right Now

If your kids play Roblox, June is going to bring some changes whether you're ready or not. Here's my advice: don't wait for the automatic transition. Get ahead of this.

1. Log into your Roblox parent account now and familiarize yourself with existing controls
2. Make sure your child's account has accurate age information
3. Review what games your kids are currently playing and their content ratings
4. Set up a linked parent account if you haven't already
5. When June rolls around, immediately check what category your child has been assigned to

The upcoming changes mean you'll have more tools to work with, but tools only matter if you use them. Roblox isn't going to parent your kids for you, even with these new restrictions in place.

The Bottom Line

Roblox is trying to fix its image. Whether these new account types represent genuine commitment to child safety or just really good PR remains to be seen. The cynic in me notes that these announcements always seem to come right before earnings calls or when regulatory pressure mounts. But I also think it's possible to do the right thing for the wrong reasons and still end up with a better product.

For now, parents should cautiously welcome these changes while keeping their expectations realistic. Roblox has a long way to go before it earns back trust. These new Kids and Select accounts are a start, not a finish line. And honestly? The platform's youngest users deserve a lot better than what they've been getting.

Source: PCGamer latest