Roblox rolls out Kids and Select accounts

Roblox says it will begin rolling out two new account types globally in early June, splitting younger users into “Roblox Kids” for ages 5–9 and “Roblox Select” for ages 9–15. The change follows Roblox’s January move to require age checks for anyone who wants access to chat, and it comes as US state attorneys general in Louisiana and Texas have sued the company over child-safety risks, according to TechCrunch.

The new structure formalises what has long been an informal reality on the platform: children and early teens are already there, and moderation has to be designed around them rather than bolted on after the fact. Under the Kids account, chat stays off by default for under‑9s, and any messaging requires parents to explicitly whitelist specific contacts. Select accounts can chat, but only with users in a similar age group. Users who do not complete age checks will be limited to a curated set of games rated for younger audiences.

Roblox is also tightening the supply side. Only games that pass a three-step screening process will be available to Kids and Select accounts. Developers must meet eligibility requirements that include verification steps and security settings — and, notably, an active Roblox Plus subscription. That subscription, launched recently at $4.99 per month, becomes part of the gatekeeping mechanism for reaching the youngest audiences. After developer verification, Roblox says it will run “real-time evaluation” tests using players aged 16 and older to generate feedback before a game is made available to younger users, and it will apply its multimodal moderation system to check rule compliance.

The design choice shifts risk and cost: parents must now make explicit decisions about who their children can talk to and which games they can access, while developers pay for the privilege of distribution to the most sensitive user segment. It also creates a compliance ladder inside Roblox’s own ecosystem, where access to younger users depends on identity checks, account security configuration, and a paid subscription. That is a different model from the open-ended marketplace that made Roblox scale.

Roblox’s content categories also draw a brighter line at the top end. “Restricted Content” — including strong violence, romantic themes, and strong language — remains locked to users 18 and older. The company says existing users will get a transition period to complete age checks and be assigned to the appropriate account type.

The immediate result is concrete: from June, a child’s ability to chat or join a game on Roblox will depend less on what they click and more on what they can prove — and what their parents are willing to approve.