Roblox has rolled out a fresh set of guidelines aimed at protecting younger users from what the company describes as "reward‑driven media feeds" in games that appear in its Roblox Kids and Roblox Select catalogs. The move is part of a broader effort to tighten oversight of game mechanics that blend social‑media‑style content streams with incentive structures that could encourage children to spend excessive time watching videos or scrolling through images for in‑game benefits.
According to an announcement posted on Roblox’s Creator Hub, the new rule targets any experience that combines a media feed—such as short‑form video clips, image galleries, or story‑like timelines—with autoplay, infinite‑scroll, auto‑scroll, or continuous‑replay loops, and then attaches a reward system that either requires or strongly suggests that the player keep watching to earn those rewards. In other words, if a game shows a feed of content that automatically moves forward and then says something like "watch for 30 seconds to get a bonus" or "keep scrolling to unlock a special item," it falls under the ban for Kids and Select listings. "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," Roblox wrote. The statement makes clear that the company will not simply take down non‑compliant titles without giving developers a chance to modify their games to meet the new standards. Once a game is updated, it will be re‑examined and, if it meets the criteria, reinstated in the child‑focused sections of the platform. The policy appears to have been triggered by a specific incident involving the pet‑collecting simulator Steal an Egg.
That title was reportedly taken offline after it introduced a mechanic where players would run on a virtual treadmill while a never‑ending stream of content played, and they would receive in‑game rewards for staying on the treadmill as long as possible. Critics argued that this design effectively forced children to watch endless media in order to progress, raising concerns about addictive loops and the manipulation of young users’ attention.
GamesIndustry.biz reached out to Roblox for comment on whether the new rule was drafted solely in response to the Steal an Egg situation. While Roblox did not confirm a direct causal link, it did use the incident as a concrete example of the type of gameplay it wants to curb.
The company outlined three concrete elements that trigger the policy: 1. The presence of a media feed presented to the player—this could be a TikTok‑style video reel, an Instagram‑like image carousel, or a series of story cards. 2. The inclusion of at least one automatic playback feature—autoplay, a continuous loop, infinite scroll, or auto‑scroll that moves the feed without user input.
3. A reward structure that either explicitly requires the player to keep watching or implicitly suggests that continued viewing is necessary to earn the reward.
Roblox emphasized that the rule does not apply to standard rewarded video advertisements, which are already subject to strict limits. In those cases, a user must actively choose to watch an ad, and the platform enforces caps on how many ads a single user can view within a given time frame. The new policy is solely focused on game‑embedded content feeds that blend entertainment with incentives.
Developers whose games are flagged will be given the opportunity to adjust their designs. Roblox noted that any changes made to satisfy the policy will be re‑reviewed, and that other qualifications for inclusion in Kids and Select—such as meeting the "Engaged Player" criteria—will remain unchanged. In other words, fixing the media‑feed issue alone will not reset a game's standing; it must still meet the broader quality and safety standards that Roblox enforces for child‑friendly content. The timing of the announcement coincides with heightened scrutiny from U.S.
lawmakers. 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. The subcommittee’s concerns echo those raised by parents and child‑advocacy groups who worry that the platform’s monetization tactics—especially those that reward prolonged screen time—could be harmful. In a related development, Roblox has also taken steps to increase transparency around its artificial‑intelligence safety tools.
The company recently open‑sourced three of its AI safety models through the Robust Open Online Safety Tools (ROOST) Model Community. By sharing these models publicly, Roblox aims to foster collaboration with researchers and developers to improve the detection of harmful content and to build more robust safeguards for its community. Overall, the new policy reflects Roblox’s attempt to balance the creative freedom that developers enjoy with the responsibility of protecting children from potentially exploitative game mechanics. By drawing a clear line around reward‑driven media feeds, the platform hopes to reduce the risk of addictive loops that pressure kids into endless scrolling or watching for the sake of virtual rewards.
At the same time, the company’s ongoing dialogue with regulators, developers, and the broader safety community suggests that it sees this as just one part of a larger, evolving strategy to keep the Roblox ecosystem safe and enjoyable for users of all ages.