Roblox Responded to the Hate...

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Believe it or not, we actually have some good updates regarding some of the worst Roblox updates. 2026 has been a really tough year for Roblox with numerous destructive updates like AI age estimation for chat and a new publishing requirements already popping up. Things have kind of boiled over in the community and Roblox may have noticed that. So, they did a Q&A session on the dev forum, maybe to ease some concerns.

[00:00:27]It was supposed to all be about Roblox's new publishing requirements, but questions about other issues were answered, too. Before we get into it, I just do want to make it clear that none of the horrendous updates they talked about are being undone. Roblox appears to be set on still doing everything, but they provided some additional info on bad stuff that they should have said in the first place. A good example of that has to do with what happens if your Roblox Plus subscription runs out while having games that are open to all ages.

[00:01:00]If you missed the news, Roblox will be forcing users to have a Plus subscription to create and maintain games for all ages. You'll need to sub to the new version of Premium to be able to make games anyone can play. But Roblox never said what happened when that subscription ran out. Since Roblox chose not to clarify what happened, the belief was that all ages games would either close or be restricted to 16 plus users. Well, that's thankfully not the case, as an employee provided the info that Roblox should have in the first place, which is a common theme with this Q&A. It was confirmed that Roblox will not close or change all ages games to 16 plus if the owner's Plus subscription runs out. The games will remain open, but if the owner wants to update the game or make new all ages games, they'll have to resubscribe. This is good news for certain games, like showcases that don't require updates, as the plus subscription can be a quick one-time thing that keeps it open for everyone forever. Devs can also kind of bulk update their games all at the same time to avoid full-time subscription if their games don't need new content often or aren't high maintenance. Unfortunately, this doesn't change anything for devs who need to constantly update their all ages games or make new ones. For some devs, it turns the all ages plus requirement into a one-time $5 thing, but for other devs, it doesn't mean anything whatsoever. There's no doubt that this is a good thing that may save a lot of showcases, smaller games, and others not requiring a ton of updates.

[00:02:39]In the grand scheme of things, though, for many, it's like putting a band-aid on an amputation, and realistically, the Plus subscription shouldn't be there.

[00:02:48]Another source of many questions was how this game evaluation for all ages games would work, as Roblox said it need to be tested by 16 plus users before being all ages. Nobody really knew what the process would be like, how long it' take, or if it'd end up hurting games aimed at kids since 16 plus users wouldn't want to play it. Well, we've got an answer. And it not only doesn't sound great, it actually might spark more questions than answers. For a game to pass the evaluation check outside of moderation aspects, it'll need 500 unique plays by age checked highly engaged 16 plus users within 30 days.

[00:03:30]They kind of explain what that be and it's pretty much just making sure it's not a quick join and leave or a visit from a bot. I guess that part makes sense, but 500 unique plays may be difficult to reach for some kid oriented games, and questions about how it might affect game discovery weren't answered.

[00:03:48]One employee did acknowledge it could take some games longer to build an audience due to the evaluation process, though. There were no specific answers on how long it take for a game to open up once it reaches that 500 unique play requirement either. It also begs the question of why a plus subscription is necessary if this evaluation process solves whether or not a game should be playable by all ages. There may be a saving grace with Plus, though, as an employee said there's a possibility that Plus could be paid for with Robux. It's a cool idea, but there's no confirmation it'll happen yet, and I don't know if Roblox would actually do it since they'd be losing out on a lot of revenue. We're apparently months away from hearing more about this, so don't expect anything anytime soon. And who knows, it might not even happen.

[00:04:46]Something else a lot of y'all may be excited about is news about these stupid chat dots, which are apparently set to go away. It was revealed that Roblox will be moving away from the dots at some point in the future and replacing them with the AI chat summaries. Instead of hiding messages with dots, Roblox will be using AI to speak on people's behalf so it can dictate what they say.

[00:05:11]I assume most people would prefer that.

[00:05:13]Although obviously having a program speak for you is something most people rather not deal with. I get why they're doing it for safety reasons. I just think the better option would be to stick with hashtags, which they also want to replace with AI summaries. The last thing I want to go over is an update on why Roblox added age estimation face scans and why they're going to stick around. RBX Rocking Man, aka Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman, responded to criticism about FAE, and he's actually getting a lot of praise for it. Matt Kaufman has obviously been one of the most disliked figures at Roblox over the safety issues that have gone on under his watch, but what he says here is very insightful. He was as transparent as possible here and basically said Roblox added age estimation after hearing loudly from parents and policy makers. The policymaker point is very important because it indicates that governments are behind it, which was expected, but Roblox always made it sound like they wanted it too. That may not exactly be the case, though, as for the first time ever, Roblox acknowledged face scans are unpopular and causes issues. Roblox knows AI face scans hurt their players and platform, but it sounds like they may have no choice due to what policy makers have said behind closed doors. If Roblox didn't add face scans, then they risked being banned in certain regions.

[00:06:43]And in Roblox's mind, some Roblox Everywhere is better than full Roblox nowhere. By the sounds of it, Roblox knows it's harmful and knows people hate it, but they've got no choice due to policy makers and governments threatening to ban them. Their acknowledgement that it comes with friction and pointing towards it not being their call could explain their seemingly greedy recent updates. Roblox knows it's hurting their platform, yet they've got to keep it around. So, they'd have to do something to make up for the revenue losses, which could be updates like this. Obviously, this does not resolve any issues FAE presents or the issues that led governments to being mad at Roblox, but it does give us insight as to why it's happening. It feels like we're getting some level of transparency about it for the first time ever rather than the typical we want to be the safety gold standard reasoning Roblox tends to give. It doesn't free Roblox of criticism because if they acted on stuff before we may not be here, but it does provide a more understandable reason for it. It's apparently either Roblox adds face scans or they get banned. So in order to let Roblox be partially usable, they've got to implement it. Unfortunately, there's really not much else of note to report on. At least not that I've seen. And nobody seems to be taking interest in much else either. I'm going to cut it off here. But yeah, at least we've got some level of okay news regarding some of the worst updates, I guess. Thanks for watching and don't for