Marsh
Mallow, Roblox Kids and Select went live globally. We keep hearing our game has to "qualify" to reach younger players. What changed — and does this open that audience up for us?
Mallow
It's big news for audience reach. Kids and Select — the age-based accounts for under-16 players — are now live worldwide as of mid-June, after a regional rollout that started May 19 in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Australia, and Indonesia. And tens of thousands of games already fill those catalogs, representing the vast majority of Roblox playtime.
Marsh
So a huge share of players are now inside these age-gated catalogs. If our game isn't in them, we're invisible to those players?
Mallow
Essentially, yes. To appear to Kids and Select audiences, your game has to be evaluated and deemed eligible. That's the gate. And the headline of this announcement is that Roblox is widening that gate in three ways.
Marsh
How was eligibility decided before?
Mallow
There's an engagement benchmark — broadly, a game needs to reach roughly 500 highly engaged players in the last 60 days to complete evaluation and become eligible. (We broke down the full requirements in an earlier piece.) The catch is the chicken-and-egg: you need engaged players to qualify, but you need to be in the catalog to reach them.
Marsh
That sounds like a wall for a brand-new launch.
Mallow
It was. So Roblox is lowering it three ways. First, they'll relax the definition of "Highly Engaged Players" — they estimate it'll increase new games entering the Kids/Select catalog by about 33% each day. That's coming in the next few weeks, with more adjustments over the coming months.
Marsh
33% more games getting in daily is a real opening. What's the second?
Mallow
A new Expedited Review. For 100,000 Robux per game, you get reviewed within 48 hours and bypass the Highly Engaged Player threshold entirely. And the fee is refundable after 90 days if your game stays in good standing and reaches minimum highly engaged player milestones — you only forfeit it for severe Community Standards violations. So a serious new title can pay to skip the chicken-and-egg wall, and get the money back if it performs.
Marsh
So it's less a fee and more a refundable deposit that proves you're serious. And the third?
Mallow
An Engagement Objective beta in Ads Manager — a new campaign objective that targets players whose sessions count toward the Highly Engaged Player threshold, rather than general discovery. So you can spend ad budget specifically to reach the players who help you qualify. The three tools stack: a lower bar, a paid fast-track, and targeted ads to actually hit the bar.
Marsh
Why is Roblox making this easier now?
Mallow
Supply. They've built the safe, age-appropriate catalog structure; now they want more compliant games in it to serve that audience well. More eligible games means more for young players to do, which means a healthier Kids/Select experience. It aligns Roblox's interest — a full catalog — with yours — access to a massive audience.
Marsh
What do we have to be careful about?
Mallow
Compliance is non-negotiable. The fast-track refund is forfeited for severe Community Standards violations, and the entire point is content suitability for minors. So before chasing this audience, make sure your content, chat, monetization — remember the paid-random-items odds rules and the ad policies — and data practices all clear the bar for younger users. Eligibility gets you in; a violation gets you pulled.
Marsh
How should we sequence this?
Mallow
(1) Confirm your game is content-appropriate for Kids/Select and fix anything that isn't. (2) Decide between waiting for the relaxed eligibility (free, coming weeks) or paying the refundable Expedited Review (fast, 48 hours) if the under-16 audience is core to your plan. (3) If you advertise, test the new Engagement Objective to reach qualifying players. (4) Keep your game out of accidental unavailability and watch for the improved 404 messaging Roblox is adding to Game Details Pages.
Marsh
Executive summary?
Mallow
(1) Kids and Select are live globally and hold the vast majority of Roblox playtime — if you're not in those catalogs, you can't reach under-16 players. (2) Eligibility is opening up: a relaxed "Highly Engaged Player" definition (about +33% new games/day, coming weeks); a refundable 100,000-Robux Expedited Review (48 hours, bypasses the threshold, refunded after 90 days if you meet engagement minimums); and an Ads Manager Engagement Objective beta to target qualifying players. (3) Compliance is both the gate and the risk — your content must suit minors. (4) Action: get compliant, choose relaxed-wait vs paid-fast-track, and use targeted ads to qualify.
Marsh
So the door to the biggest audience on Roblox just got wider, and there's now a fast lane. Worth getting our game through it — cleanly.
