Roblox has rolled out a fresh set of guidelines aimed at shielding younger users from games that incorporate what the company describes as "reward‑driven media feeds" within titles that appear in the Roblox Kids and Roblox Select catalogs. The move is part of a broader effort to tighten safety standards for children who spend time on the platform, and it directly targets games that blend media‑feed presentations—such as short‑form video clips, image streams, or story‑like updates—with mechanics that automatically play, loop endlessly, or scroll without user input, while also attaching a reward system that either requires or suggests that continuous viewing is necessary to earn in‑game benefits.
In a detailed announcement posted to the Roblox Creator Hub, the company explained that any game that mixes these three elements—media feed display, an autoplay or infinite‑scroll feature, and a reward component tied to ongoing consumption—will be deemed non‑compliant. "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 statement read. This language makes clear that developers will have an opportunity to adjust their titles, but failure to do so will result in removal from the curated sections that are specifically marketed to younger audiences.
The policy change appears to have been prompted by recent coverage of the pet‑collecting simulator Steal an Egg, which was reportedly taken offline after it introduced a gameplay loop that encouraged users to stay on a virtual treadmill while a continuous stream of content played, rewarding them with in‑game items for each minute of viewing. While the game itself was not outright banned from the entire Roblox ecosystem, its removal from the Kids and Select listings underscores Roblox's intention to prevent similar designs from reaching children through its most child‑friendly storefronts. GamesIndustry.biz reached out to Roblox for comment, asking whether the new rule was a direct reaction to the Steal an Egg situation.
Roblox responded that the policy is broader than any single title and is intended to address a class of mechanics that could be exploitative. According to the company, a game falls under the new restriction if it meets all of the following criteria: 1.
It presents a media feed to players—this could be a carousel of short videos, a scrolling image gallery, or a series of story‑style posts reminiscent of social‑media platforms. 2. It incorporates at least one of these automatic behaviors: autoplay of media, a continuous replay loop, infinite scrolling, or auto‑scroll functionality that moves content without the player’s explicit action.
3. It attaches a reward system that either explicitly requires or implicitly suggests that the player must keep watching the media feed in order to earn the reward. Roblox emphasized that the rule does not extend to traditional rewarded video advertisements, which remain permissible as long as users actively choose to watch an ad and the platform enforces limits on how many ads a single user can view within a given timeframe.
"A user must actively initiate the ad, and [the system] applies rate limits to how many a user can watch," the company clarified, distinguishing these standard ad formats from the more insidious reward‑linked media loops the policy targets. Developers whose games are flagged for non‑compliance will be given a chance to modify the offending mechanics and submit the updated version for re‑evaluation.
Roblox noted that all other eligibility requirements for inclusion in the Kids and Select catalogs—such as age‑appropriate content standards and the Engaged Player metric—will remain unchanged, and that any adjustments made to satisfy the new rule will not reset a game's existing qualifications. The timing of the announcement coincides with heightened scrutiny from U.S. regulators. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism launched an investigation into Roblox, alleging that the platform appears to prioritize revenue generation and engagement metrics over the safety of its youngest users.
This legislative probe adds pressure on Roblox to demonstrate concrete actions that protect children from potentially manipulative design patterns. In a related development, Roblox also announced that it has open‑sourced three of its artificial‑intelligence safety models through the Robust Open Online Safety Tools Model Community (ROOST). By sharing these models publicly, Roblox hopes to foster collaboration with external researchers and developers to improve detection of harmful content and risky mechanics across the platform.
Overall, the new policy signals a clear stance by Roblox: games that lure children into endless media consumption by tying it to in‑game rewards will no longer be permitted in the sections of the store that are most visible to kids and their parents. While the rule leaves room for legitimate advertising and does not affect the broader Roblox catalog, it establishes a concrete boundary for developers who wish to reach younger audiences. As the platform continues to evolve and as regulatory oversight intensifies, Roblox’s commitment to refining its safety framework will likely remain a focal point for both creators and guardians alike.