Roblox scrambles to fight the 'pedophile hellscape' allegations with changes to pre-teen accounts that don't seem like enough

The Roblox HQ. — (Image credit: Jason Doiy via Getty Images)

Roblox is making changes to its policies for pre-teen users, just weeks after a damning report from an investment research firm condemned the game as a "pedophile hellscape."

Per Bloomberg, Roblox emailed parents earlier this week to inform them that, starting in November, players younger than 13 will need to get parental permission before they can use certain Roblox chat features. Kids under 9, meanwhile, won't be able to play violent games or games with "crude humour" without permission from parents.

And that, at least for now, is that. Roblox declined to provide Bloomberg with any further information about the changes beyond a statement that they are "part of Roblox’s commitment to making the platform one of the safest online environments for our users, particularly the youngest users." As an inveterate optimist, we reached out too, and got, well, the same statement back.

Just before that, Bloomberg reported a separate story on a pedophile who used the game to groom, abduct and sexually assault a 15-year-old girl a full 18 months after the community had outed him as a predator. Prior to that, Roblox Studio head Stefano Corazza had to come out and deny that the company was "exploiting child labour." Last November, parents of Roblox-playing kids kicked off a class-action lawsuit against the company over complaints about sexual content and grooming.

So, yes, it's not too surprising that Roblox might be desperately attempting to make its platform safer for the many, many children who use it. What's surprising to me is how minimal these changes seem. Needing parental permission to access particular chat features and violent games is an okay start, sure, but I'm hoping the company's plans to right the ship go beyond this kind of tinkering at the edges.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.