ALL THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF PC GAMES

News

Roblox starts user age verification ahead of voice chat rollout

Roblox starts user age verification ahead of voice chat rollout

Games platform Roblox has started allowing users to verify their age on the service in the lead up to the firm releasing voice chat.

In a post on the company's website, senior product manager for authentication Chris Aston Chen wrote that around half of Roblox users are over the age of 13, as of Q2 2021. The firm wants to make sure that only these players can access the new Spatial Voice feature, which is set to roll out at some point this autumn.

In order to verify, users have to scan an ID document before sending Roblox a selfie to confirm that you are who you say and how old you are.

"Age Verification marks a big milestone in our long-term vision of building a trusted, fun, and civil platform for everyone," Chen wrote.

"As part of that vision, we will continue to work on seamless ways to verify a user’s age, always respecting a user’s privacy. Over time, we’ll continue to introduce new and innovative ways for users to easily and securely maintain and protect their identity on the Roblox platform, unlock new and immersive social capabilities, and build and enjoy amazing experiences together."

In August of this year, Roblox claimed to have 48.2 million daily active users.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.