Roblox is going to start showing ESRB ratings alongside experiences to help users in the US better understand if an experience is appropriate for a user of a certain age. The new ratings will appear thanks to Roblox’s new partnership with the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), which was announced today.
As part of the partnership, players in other countries will see age ratings from the ratings agency for their region. Right now, Roblox uses its own “content maturity labels” to indicate maturity level of experiences, but these will be replaced with ratings from the agencies in the future.
“With so many families engaging with Roblox, it is hugely beneficial to provide parents with trusted and familiar ratings no matter where they live,” Patricia Vance, president of the ESRB and chairperson of IARC, says in a statement. “The globally streamlined process will provide Roblox creators with an efficient and proven process for obtaining age and content ratings, while informing parents of what their kids may experience before they play.”
Roblox also announced a plan to, by the end of the year, require all users who use any of its communication features to have their age estimated by the platform. Right now, users older than 9 can communicate via Roblox’s in-game, filtered chat without going through the age estimation process. The age estimation will rely on “a combination of facial age estimation technology, ID age verification, and verified parental consent,” Roblox chief safety officer Matt Kaufman says in a blog post.
The platform has come under significant scrutiny over its child safety practices, with the state of Louisiana suing Roblox in August for allegedly creating an environment where “child predators thrive.” These new child safety features announced today build on other recent changes like Roblox locking down sexual content and adding improved parental controls.
