Roblox has rolled out a fresh set of guidelines aimed at shielding younger users from "reward‑driven media feeds" embedded in games that appear on the Roblox Kids and Roblox Select storefronts. The company announced the change on its Creator Hub, explaining that the rule targets any experience that mixes media feeds—such as short‑form video clips, image streams, or story‑style posts—with mechanics that automatically play, endlessly scroll, or loop content, and that also tie those views to in‑game rewards or the suggestion that rewards depend on continued watching. According to the official statement, Roblox is currently conducting a systematic audit of existing titles to verify compliance with the new standard. Any game that fails to meet the requirements will be pulled from the Kids and Select catalogs unless the developer redesigns the offending feature.
"We are actively reviewing games for compliance with the new policy. Games that do not follow this policy will be removed from Kids and Select unless the game mechanic is redesigned," the post read. The policy appears to be a direct response to recent controversy surrounding the pet‑collecting simulator Steal an Egg. Observers noted that the game encouraged players to run on a virtual treadmill while a continuous feed of videos played, promising in‑game currency or items as a reward for staying engaged with the stream.
After the mechanic was flagged, the title was taken offline, prompting questions about whether Roblox's new rule was drafted specifically to address that situation. GamesIndustry.biz reached out to Roblox for clarification, but the platform has not confirmed a direct causal link. Roblox outlined three criteria that determine whether a game falls under the new restriction: 1.
The experience presents a media feed to the player—this could be short‑form video clips, a scrolling image gallery, or a series of story‑like posts reminiscent of social‑media platforms. 2. The feed incorporates at least one of the following behaviors: autoplay, a continuous replay loop, infinite scroll, or automatic scrolling.
3. The game includes a reward system that either explicitly requires, or strongly implies, that players must keep watching the content in order to earn the reward. The company emphasized that the rule only activates when the reward element is paired with an infinite‑scroll or autoplay feature that effectively forces or suggests ongoing consumption of the media.
"Only if it features a reward component alongside an infinite scroll or autoplay feature that requires or implies an ongoing consumption of the content to receive the reward," Roblox clarified. It is important to note that the policy does not extend to traditional rewarded video advertisements. Those ads remain permissible because they must be manually initiated by the user, and Roblox enforces strict rate limits on how many ads a single player can view within a given time frame.
This distinction ensures that developers can still monetize through standard ad formats without violating the new child‑safety standards. Developers whose games are found to be non‑compliant will be given the opportunity to modify the offending mechanics and submit the updated version for re‑evaluation. Roblox assured that all other eligibility criteria for inclusion in the Kids and Select sections remain unchanged, and that the Engaged Player metric—a key factor for visibility on the platform—will not be reset as a result of the review process. The timing of the policy shift coincides with heightened scrutiny from U.S.
lawmakers. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism announced an investigation into Roblox, alleging that the platform appears to prioritize revenue generation and engagement statistics over the safety of its younger audience.
The inquiry underscores the growing pressure on tech companies to demonstrate robust protective measures for children. In a related move toward transparency and safety, Roblox recently open‑sourced three of its artificial‑intelligence safety models through the Robust Open Online Safety Tools Model Community (ROOST).
By sharing these models with the broader research community, Roblox hopes to foster collaborative development of tools that can detect and mitigate harmful content, further reinforcing its commitment to a safer environment for all users. Overall, the new policy represents a proactive step by Roblox to curb potentially exploitative design patterns that leverage endless media consumption for monetary gain, especially in experiences aimed at children. While the exact impact on the broader ecosystem of Roblox games remains to be seen, the initiative signals a clear message: developers must prioritize ethical design choices that respect the wellbeing of young players, and any attempt to tie rewards to relentless media scrolling will no longer be tolerated on the platform's most child‑friendly storefronts.