• Roblox will begin allowing intense violence, realistic blood, alcohol, and romantic themes on its platform.
• The majority of Roblox’s 202 million players, 62 percent, are under the age of 17.
• The game now includes an in depth age verification system to help ensure younger players can’t access adult-themed content.

One of the most popular games in the world, with over 202 million concurrent players – most of whom are children – says it wants more adult-themed content on its platform. This game is Roblox, which you may have heard of if you have younger children or nephews and nieces.

Roblox is a multiplayer game and basically a vast level selector, with players choosing from thousands of levels, stages and worlds created by other users. Previously, the content generated by users had to adhere to certain moderation guidelines with overly violent or adult-themed content prohibited for creation, a given considering the vast amounts of small children who play.

Now, the developers of Roblox have announced that they will allow content geared to users 17 and above. “Creators will be able to offer experiences for those 17 and older that feature more mature themes and storylines like in TV shows or stand-up comedy. These experiences may contain more violence, blood, or crude humour,” the Roblox Corporation shared.

Specifically, content aged 17 and up can now contain “intense violence” with realistic blood, as well as crude moderate humour, romantic themes, gambling content which is unplayable – for example, a casino level – and the presence of alcohol.

Roblox allows users to upload their own media to the platform, like 3D assets, textures and images, in order to build their levels. Some corporations use this system to create levels to serve as large adverts.

The devs say that its players 17 and up are the fastest growing of its playerbase, making up 38 percent of its daily active users – which would be millions of people. Last month, Roblox signed a partnership with peripheral brand Razer for themed collectables, including a headset, keyboard and mouse.

In the video announcing the partnership, images of adult players are used exclusively, despite the fact that just under a fourth of its userbase are adults.

With its enormous success, Roblox has generated equal measures of criticism. Gaming media alleges that it effectively uses child labour from its players to create levels and games on its platform, which in turn attracts more young players, and then on.

Many publications have also alleged that Roblox is often used by predators and paedophiles to groom young players. The introduction of adult-themed content, albeit without overt sexual references, could still concern parents and guardians, and the company is aware of this.

It is introducing an in-depth age verification process, which includes supplying Roblox with a copy of an identity document and taking a selfie. Only once your age is verified will you be able to access adult-themed content on the platform.

At least this is what the devs believe. The truth however may not reflect this. With the millions upon millions of users creating content, the onus is on the creator themselves to state whether or not a level or game is 17+, and then the responsibility is on the developers to make sure the guidelines are adhered to.

Content moderation at scale is incredibly difficult, and some of the largest companies in the world are still struggling to get it right. Facebook and WhatsApp owner Meta is a prime example of this, with allegations often lobbied against it for failing to protect its users from harmful media.