Roblox’s latest safety update is reshaping how millions of users communicate — and not everyone is happy about it. After the platform began requiring AI-based age verification to unlock chat features, some players say they have lost access to long-standing conversations and are struggling to stay connected with friends they met on the game.
Roblox began rolling out its new age verification requirement for chat access globally this week, following a limited launch in select regions late last year. Under the update, users must complete an AI-powered facial age check through their device’s camera before they can send or receive chat messages, with gameplay remaining unaffected. The system places users into age-based chat groups and restricts communication between adults and children under 16, while parental consent is required for users younger than 9.
In the update, it appears that chat history has become collateral damage in the company's move to make the game safer for young players. Players flocked to a Roblox subreddit to share frustrations and mourn lost chat logs.
One user posted a GIF of a scrolling Roblox chat log, showing a string of messages that have been deleted. "Three years of friendship BTW," reads the text over the animation.
Other players commiserated with the original poster in the comments, telling their own stories about the sudden loss of Roblox memories.
"This makes me so sad bro," wrote one user. "All of my chats with some of the random from the many years of playing this game is [sic] completely vanished like what were were thinking man [sic]."
"Roblox is just trying to put a bandaid over a much larger problem. They got called out for not having the best guidelines/protection, so they think absolute quieting is the solution," wrote another.
Some commenters argued that players should have already been communicating with friends on Discord, though Roblox’s rules generally prohibit sharing Discord usernames in chat or profiles as personal contact information or as a way of directing users off-platform, instead steering users toward official options such as the platform’s Social Links feature for users 13 and older or its built-in Discord–Roblox account connection.
Of course, users have always found a way to share usernames even though they risk getting in trouble — usually sharing their information on servers where they can write on signs. Some users pointed out that the chat restriction will push more people off-platform where chats cannot be monitored, which has the potential to increase chats between young and adult players.
"Ultimately, we cannot control what happens on other platforms, which is why we’re investing heavily in tools to prevent platform hopping," a Roblox spokesperson told The Best War Games.
"By requiring age checks for all of our users, we aim to limit communication between minors and adults. We are proud to lead the way for the industry and hope others in the industry will follow," they added.
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Quiet servers and the fight against AI
For some Roblox players, the impact of the new age verification system has been immediate and tangible, with once-busy game servers falling quiet as users lose access to chat or opt not to complete the required checks.
In a blog post about the age verification process, Roblox claimed that tens of millions of daily active users have already completed an age check. According to ActivePlayer.io, a website that provides real-time estimates of player counts, about 75.8 million players hop on Roblox every month. On the game's main subreddit, several players have mentioned that the game feels quiet now without a busy unfiltered chat.
At same time, the update has intensified resistance to Roblox’s use of AI-powered facial age estimation, with critics questioning whether the technology is accurate, necessary or worthy of their trust — especially when it now determines who can speak and be heard on the platform.
Under the new system, users are prompted to complete an age check through an AI-powered facial age estimation scan using their device’s camera before gaining access to chat features. Roblox says images and video captured during the process are deleted immediately after they are securely processed and are not stored. The company describes the age check as one part of a broader, multilayered safety approach that also includes content filters, restrictions on sharing personal information and community moderation tools, and says users who believe their age was estimated incorrectly can appeal the result or verify their age through alternative methods, including government ID or parental controls.
But not all players are ready to hand over their image to the company. Many players are refusing to complete age verification over concerns about how their image will be stored or used to train the AI system, even with the company's promise to delete everything.
A Roblox spokesperson told The Best War Games that users older than 13 can also choose to verify their age through ID verification.
Many of the frustrations surrounding Roblox’s latest chat update trace back to mounting legal pressure on the company over child safety. Roblox is currently facing more than 80 lawsuits alleging it failed to adequately protect young users from sexual predators and exploitation, claims that were consolidated into a federal multidistrict litigation in California in late 2025. The cases argue that weak age controls and unrestricted communication tools allowed adults to pose as children and contact minors, prompting closer scrutiny of how the platform verifies users and limits interaction.