Platform-Wide Mandatory Age Verification and Age-Compatible Chat Grouping Fully Implemented to Enhance User Safety
Roblox has fully implemented a sweeping set of safety updates centered on mandatory age verification and the creation of age-compatible communication environments. This major policy change, rolled out globally, now requires users to complete an age check to access most chat and communication features, including in-experience text chat, voice chat, and party chat. The system is designed to enhance user safety by carefully limiting communication between different age demographics, particularly between adults and minors. Verified users are assigned to specific age groups (e.g., under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, and 21+), and communication is primarily restricted to those within the same or adjacent age brackets. For instance, after a child under 16 completes the age estimation process, they will be unable to initiate or participate in chats with adults. Voice Chat is also now prohibited between adults and 13-15-year-olds, in addition to the existing restriction for users under 13. To support this, new server-side APIs, `TextChatService:GetChatGroupsAsync` and `VoiceChatService:GetChatGroupsAsync`, have been released for developers. These tools allow experiences to identify which players can communicate, facilitating the creation of servers where users are more likely to be able to interact with each other, thereby fostering safer and more relevant social connections. This comprehensive initiative directly addresses long-standing safety concerns and represents a fundamental shift in how user interaction is managed on the platform.