Anger rages like a fire among the Everglades. Backlash piles on the stiffened swirling mountain. Voices yell for change reverberating against arches of the future. Multiple statewide lawsuits, extreme backlash from the community, loss of money-making games/in-game items, mass player count plummet, privacy concerns, and the largest economical plummet for Roblox. This is the reality Roblox and the community currently face with its failing updates.
What is Roblox: Roblox is an online platform played by millions of individuals worldwide. Roblox can be played on VR, PC, IOS, iPad, Android, Xbox, And Playstation. Roblox holds millions of player and platform group created games. It has become a hub for forming connections, producing games, producing in-game items, and having money-making opportunities. The game is popular among millions of children and teenagers worldwide. It is also used to express personal voices, creativity, and fun.
“I found games on there that sparked my interest. Now I’m hooked,” said Roblox player Heather Fletcher.
Current Chat Backlash: Many players have been furious involving a new update with the Roblox chat policies. Starting January 7th and earlier, millions of players have been required to complete an age verification to chat among other individuals on the platform using the player’s face. After completing the age verification, the user is placed into an age group that they are only allowed to chat with thus preventing players from talking to those younger. This not only prevents friends from talking to each other, but the AI in the age verification system often incorrectly guesses the age of the individual which allows predators to manipulate the AI to chat with younger individuals. Multiple players argue that using face and ID as age verification is a privacy concern and many individuals opted to avoid the age verification checks by making their own language to communicate without using the age verification. The player count and Roblox stock has dipped incredibly due to the chat restrictions.
“I was placed in 18+ (makes sense). I can’t even trade on adopt me anymore because everyone else is under 18,” said Roblox player Caroline Hanara.
Origins Of Restrictions: Issues involving safety and communication began when a famous Roblox YouTuber named Schlep worked with Arkansas police to stop sexual predators from communicating with minors on Roblox. Although Schlep helped keep the platform safe when Roblox was lacking in safety, Schlep was permanently banned from Roblox for breaking the terms of service and was sent a cease and desist letter which threatened to take legal action pertaining to his involvement of capturing predators. The incident gained massive traction across multiple platforms worldwide among players, parents, and legal figures. Roblox’s incompetency to defend its player base was noticed causing several states such as Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Iowa to sue for its breeding grounds for predators. At the time, little to no safety action was put in place and chats were poorly monitored. The backlash was so massive, even former NBC journalistChris Hanson, renowned for catching sexual predators, started to work on a documentary pertaining to the issue. In response to the accusation, Roblox sent out a update restricting chats.
Removal Of Faces: On the Roblox platform, each player has an avatar/online persona which they can automize with faces, clothes, accessories, hair, etc from the avatar shop using in-game currency bought with money known as Robux. However, as of March 2026, Roblox is planning to remove faces that are “static” (still avatar faces that the majority of players use) and force players to use dynamic faces ( avatar faces that move, blink, and move eyes).In addition, during June of 2026, Roblox plans to remove all static faces from inventories of all players raising concerns involving refunding. Many players complained that Roblox is limiting creative expression and has been often been compared to North Korea. The ban of static faces will not only affect average players, but individuals who make a living off of making Roblox faces. One face-maker complained that his only source of money was from producing faces. KreekKraft famously published a video on the issue stating “there is no upside to this update.”
“What other goal does the static face removal serve besides angering people?” said player Aidan Tysinger.
