What you should know: ‘Roblox’ gets age-based accounts, expanded parental controls

The Roblox game platform announced it would be introducing new account types globally so as to gate content for specific age groups. Alongside this, Roblox said they would also be expanding the controls parents have to better curate the experience children have on the platform.

In a post on Monday, April 13, the company said there would now be three tiers of accounts dependent on age. These are Roblox Kids for ages 5 to 8, Roblox Select for ages 9 to 15, and standard Roblox accounts for those over the age of 15.

Roblox will assign the accounts based on age-check technology or on the prompting of verified parents who set up kids’ accounts, and provide age-appropriate experiences for users in specific ranges. Parents will also be able to correct the age of a child if needed.

Here’s what you need to know.

Differences between Kids, Select, and standard Roblox accounts

For Roblox Kids accounts, this means access will be limited to games with a minimal or mild content maturity label that have passed a three-step selection process. Further, all communication modes, such as chat, are disabled by default and Kids accounts will have a distinct background color across the app experience to indicate it is a Kids account.

Roblox Select accounts, meanwhile will have access to games up to and including moderate content maturity labels, and will carry the default communications settings. Similar to Kids accounts, the design of Roblox will also have a distinct visual treatment to indicate this account type.

Age checked users who are at least 16 will have the full range of Roblox use and will not see changes to their experience.

How are games evaluated?

Roblox said the content on its platform will be made appropriate for Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts after an evaluation.

The evaluation will use additional criteria, which include the following processes:

1. Developer verification: Creators must complete ID verification, enable two-step verification, and maintain an active Roblox Plus subscription. According to a separate announcement, Roblox Plus will cost $4.99 montly and will launch on April 30, and will unlock exclusive benefits for players and game developers on the platform, such as discounts on in-game items and avatars among other perks.
2. Real-time evaluation: Roblox will analyze how users age 16 and older interact with new games and monitor user reports to assess suitability for younger users.
3. Content maturity rating and default exclusions: Roblox will assign an appropriate content maturity label (minimal, mild, or moderate) for each game. By default, Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts will not include games that feature sensitive issues, social hangouts, or free-form drawing games.

What are the expanded parental controls on Roblox?

Roblox is also instituting some changes with a platform update that will allow parents to better manage how their children use it to play or build things.

The extension to granular game blocking, for one, will allow parents to block specific individual games on Kids and Select accounts, or through age 15. Parents will also be able to manage the chat settings on accounts through age 15. There is also a granular game approval setting, which will allow parents to approve access to specific games not otherwise available on a Kids or Select account type.

According to Roblox, “This structure is designed to give parents more precise control over the games and friends their child interacts with.”

“Together, these updates are part of our ongoing work to build age-appropriate experiences for all users, apply safety-by-default protections for younger users, and give parents more visibility and control over how their children use Roblox,” the company added. – Rappler.com