People can play on the Roblox website or use the app on platforms such as Amazon Fire, Xbox and PCs (including virtual reality). Each Roblox game and experience has one of four content maturity labels, ranging from ‘Minimal’ (e.g. contains mild violence and occasional fear) to ‘Restricted’ (e.g. may have strong violence, heavy realistic blood and strong language). If a user wants to access Restricted games and experiences, they will need to verify that they are 17 or older e.g. with a passport. Because Roblox includes this range of content, it has a PEGI rating of ‘Parental Guidance’. A player can invite their friends to join a ‘party’, where they can all play the same game together (alongside other users). Party members aged 13+ can chat as a group or one to one.
Players can buy ‘Robux’ to pay for in-game items. They can also trade items with other players. Paying a monthly fee allows a player to do things like create a private ‘server’ to play a game only with friends for example.
Some (not all) safety settings are automatically applied according to the child’s stated birth date in Roblox. Children under 13 need parental permission for some chat settings. Children under 9 years old need permission to access experiences that are rated ‘Moderate’ maturity.
Parents can manage the parental controls for their child’s Roblox account from their own Roblox account. Settings include limiting or disabling online chat and the ability to join or be invited to a party or private server. Parents can block another user to prevent contact with their child, and they can see which users their child has blocked. They can control access to age-inappropriate Roblox experiences and block specific experiences regardless of the content maturity level. Parents can set spending and screentime limits. They can also prevent others from seeing their child’s inventory items and which Roblox experiences their child is playing in. There are additional parental controls available on the gaming platforms you can play Roblox on, e.g. Xbox.
