Users 17 and up will need to verify their ages to Roblox by uploading an image of an ID and a matching selfie before they can access the new content, Bronstein says. (The ID image won’t be stored by Roblox after verification, he says.) While some users do share devices, including within families, Bronstein says they usually have separate accounts since they each want to connect with their own friends on the platform, making it less likely that underage users will sneak on to older relatives’ accounts.

The new, more mature category will still have some restrictions. Nudity and sexual content aren’t allowed, for instance, nor are depictions of animal abuse, “extreme violence,” tobacco, or “regulated drugs” besides alcohol. Crude humor involving burping and pooping is okay, but “real world depictions of these bodily functions” are off-limits. And while game characters may be able to walk through a casino setting, they still won’t be allowed to do any actual gambling with the platform’s Robux currency or any other means.

Roblox, which began as an educational game for kids, has since grown into a major metaverse platform that’s been used to host concerts by acts like Lizzo and Elton John and as virtual outposts of brands from Gucci to Walmart. Last year, the platform introduced age controls which designated games on the platform as suitable for all ages, for ages 9 and above, or ages 13 and above, with parents able to limit kids’ access to the more mature categories of content.

Frontlines, a first-person shooter playable on Roblox and rated for ages 13 and up, has an audience that’s at least 90% adults 18 and up.[Photo: Roblox]