Gianna Karapanos, a junior at MCHS, logs on to Roblox after school to see her friends online. She joins her friends’ experience to chat and see what’s up, but she finds that she literally can’t. Her chat is disabled and when she goes to activate it, it requires a face scan. “Wow,” she thinks, “this is new.”
In Jan. 2026, Roblox removed the in-game chat and voice chat feature and are now requiring users to complete a facial age verification check or ID scan. Without verification, these chat features are disabled.
Roblox is a popular online gaming platform, so rather than being a single game, it features millions of user-created virtual experiences. David Baszucki and Erik Cassel created Roblox in 2004 and released it to the public in 2006. Every day, Roblox has 151.5 million daily active users.
The reason for the change is to enhance safety on the platform and to prevent adults (18+) from chatting with younger users. Roblox has sorted the chat and restricted it to specific age groups, so once a user verifies their age, they can only chat with users of the same age group. These age groups include under nine, nine to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18 to 20, or 21+.
Many loyal Roblox players are upset by this update, arguing it, “ruins the nostalgia of the platform.”
“I feel like a really big part of Roblox was its community,” Karapanos says, “the player base makes the platform.”
In recent months, since the new update, Roblox Corp’s stock has decreased by -13.67 (-16.70%).
“I understand why the chat ban and age groups were necessary for protection,” Karapanos says, “it’s just sad to realize why it was so necessary.”
Roblox reported over 13,000 incidents to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 2023 alone.
“I believe the chat ban was a good move by the developers for us gamers,” junior Jayden Hanson says, “it allows for a safer environment for the younger kids on the platform.”
Roblox says on Twitter, “We’re committed to providing a safe place to play for all of our users, regardless of age.”