‘Roblox’ game to impose age controls this year

This image provided by Janzen Madsen shows the Roblox game called "Grow a Garden." (Janzen Madsen via AP)

Paris, France -- The publisher of “Roblox” has promised to set up age verification mechanisms, after allegations the video game massively popular with children and teens worldwide has fallen short on safety.

Roblox will “expand age estimation to all Roblox users who access our on-platform communication features by the end of this year,” the American company’s head of safety Matt Kaufman wrote in a blog post.

The company would combine estimates of users’ ages, checks on official IDs and parental consent to “launch new systems designed to limit communication between adults and minors unless they know each other in the real world,” he added in the Wednesday post.

Around 100 million people use Roblox every day, with under-13s accounting for around 40 percent of 2024 users, according to the company.

But the game has repeatedly been accused of failing to protect its youngest players in recent years.

The U.S. state of Louisiana filed a lawsuit in August accusing Roblox of facilitating child exploitation and distribution of child sexual abuse material.

And last year, activist short-selling investment firm Hindenburg Research accused the platform of inflating its monthly active player count and not sufficiently protecting users from sexual predators.

While Roblox rejected the allegations, it has announced multiple steps in recent months to step up parental controls and better label user-created content.

Roblox has a massive online platform with a distinctive toylike look where players can create their own game-within-a-game and share it with others, with experiences ranging from driving or sports to live concerts or shooting games.

The company’s announcement comes as several governments around the world step up age controls online.

Websites, social networks and video-sharing platforms must now impose strict age controls in Britain under London’s Online Safety Act, while France and other EU countries plan to test a new age-verification tool for adult content in the coming months.