Roblox just made a big call, and it’s going to hit a lot of players, especially the 16-17 crowd. As of right now, anyone under 18 won’t even see “Restricted” experiences pop up in search or recommendations. And later this year, that’s it, full stop. If you’re not 18, you won’t be able to play those games at all.
This is a shift from the old rule where 17+ was fine. Roblox basically decided to push the line all the way up to 18.
They say it’s because of community feedback, and honestly, I can see why. Roblox has this tricky identity problem. It’s one of the biggest platforms for kids, but at the same time, a ton of older teens and even adults use it. That mix gets messy when it comes to mature content. The “Restricted” label was supposed to handle that, but apparently Roblox thinks it wasn’t tight enough.
Restricted doesn’t mean “adults only, anything goes.” Sexual content is still banned. Even if a game is tagged Restricted, Roblox will moderate it if there’s anything sexual or suggestive. So really, Restricted games are about tone and themes, not about slipping in adult-only content.
If you’re 17 and you’ve already made a Restricted game, you’re safe. You can still access your own stuff. But going forward, if you want to publish something new that falls into that category, you’ll have to wait until you’re 18. That’s rough. Roblox has a lot of insanely talented young developers who push creative limits, and now some of them are going to be shut out of an entire slice of the platform.
Right now, the only way to prove you’re old enough is with an ID. That makes sense, but not everyone is comfortable handing that over to a gaming platform. Roblox says they’ll roll out facial age estimation soon, which sounds both futuristic and a little weird. Like, do I really want to hold my phone up to my face just to join a game? Some people are going to shrug and do it, others are going to side-eye it.
I get why Roblox is doing this. Parents will probably breathe a sigh of relief knowing their kids can’t stumble into something more intense. At the same time, I can’t help but think about the 17-year-olds who are mature enough to handle it but will still get locked out. It’s one of those blanket rules that protects some kids but frustrates others.