A Roblox account that the platform had certified as belonging to a 13-to-15-year-old reportedly used an eight-year-old's debit card to approve its own parental controls, opening unfiltered chat with a face-verified adult account.
The same investigation found that Roblox's facial age check is a one-time event: researchers bought 100 age-verified accounts for a combined $190.91 and logged into all of them from five countries without ever being asked to reverify. The report ties this bypass problem to a second, separate finding: Roblox's safety redesign has fragmented chat and slowed new-game discovery, coinciding with a roughly 50% year-over-year drop in new active users in the third quarter of 2026. Bleecker Street Research, which holds a short position in Roblox, published the findings and argues the company is becoming a smaller, slower business even as consensus still models a return to double-digit revenue growth.
Ticker: RBLX (Roblox Corporation)
Research Firm: Bleecker Street Research
Report URL: https://www.bleeckerstreetresearch.com/research/rblx?ref=shortreport.fyi
Report date: 2026-10-27
Position Disclosure: Funds managed by Bleecker Street are short Roblox.
Thesis
Bleecker Street Research tested Roblox's child-safety redesign directly, buying accounts, running login tests, and analyzing API data from 6.7 million accounts, concluding that the controls remain bypassable while the redesign has structurally damaged growth.
- Stale Face Scan: Roblox's facial age verification never reconfirms that the originally verified person is still using the account; researchers logged into 100 purchased age-verified accounts from different devices, countries, and VPNs, and none required reverification.
- $1 Parental Bypass: A purchased account verified as 13-to-15 reportedly used an eight-year-old's debit card to approve an adult as a "Trusted Friend," with Roblox accepting the $1 authorization as parental proof without ID or address matching, unlocking unfiltered chat. This is alleged conduct circumventing a child-safety control.
- Prohibited Content Persists: Sexual "condo" games, pornographic images found in a Roblox hangout, an avatar reportedly simulating sexual assault, and a profile with a bio flagged by investigators as predatory remained accessible as of the report, despite Roblox's community standards banning such content.
- Legal Exposure Gap: Roblox has settled with five states for roughly $54 million and faces suits from ten state attorneys general plus MDL 3166 (filed December 2025, N.D. Cal.), all requiring controls the company says it already built and which the report alleges remain bypassable.
- Fenced-In Discovery: Six age bands confine chat to adjacent groups, and the youngest users are limited to fewer than 30,000 of Roblox's "millions" of experiences; Roblox itself has said the restrictions "can lengthen the time it takes for new games...to grow."
- New-User Collapse: A panel study of 6.7 million accounts found new active users down about 50% year-over-year in Q3 2026 and registrations down roughly 40%, with no improvement in September.
- Hit Fatigue: Summer breakout Steal An Egg drew 20 percentage points fewer players from newcomer accounts than 2025's top hits and retained just 19% of peak new-user visits seven weeks after peaking, below Roblox's historical decay rate.
- Guidance Whiplash: Management's February 2026 call for a "mid-single-digit" engagement headwind gave way to guided Q3 bookings down 14%-18%, Roblox's first quarterly bookings decline since 2022, after missing Q1 DAU forecasts by nearly 12 million.
Catalysts
- Q3 2026 earnings release: actual bookings versus Roblox's own guided 14%-18% decline will test whether the slowdown is temporary or structural.
- Guidance visibility: whether Roblox resumes Q4 or full-year guidance after withholding it following Q2 2026 results, a signal of management's visibility into the business.
- Operating disclosures: continued disclosure of DAU, payer, and creator-payout trends in upcoming filings, measured against the report's claimed 50% drop in new active users.
- Algorithm shift impact: effects of Roblox's August 20, 2026 shift of its recommendation algorithm back toward monetization, which could reverse or confirm the engagement declines cited in the report.
- Litigation developments: further rulings or filings tied to MDL 3166 in the Northern District of California and the ten state attorney-general suits, which could expand or narrow Roblox's settlement obligations.
- Independent verification: any additional evidence, from regulators or outside researchers, on whether purchased age-verified accounts and Trusted Friend approvals remain exploitable.
Company Response
The report does not indicate that Bleecker Street sought comment from Roblox on these specific findings, and no company reply to the account-purchase or bypass tests is cited. The report does quote Roblox's own prior public statements: the company told CBC News in 2022 that condo games are usually removed "within a matter of minutes," CEO David Baszucki said in October 2025 that the safety initiative would set a "best in class standard," and Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said in January that safety functions as a growth driver because Roblox's growth is powered by word of mouth.
Notable Details
- One researcher reportedly bought a Roblox account verified as belonging to a five-year-old for $1.54 after searching "Age 5" on an account marketplace.
- Investigators identified nine marketplaces selling Roblox accounts, with four sites showing more than 65,000 listings combined; one seller advertised accounts across every age band, including a "GIRL SKIN | 9-12 Age" listing.
- An account with the bio "im a bitMAP / EVERY pAGE WELCOME!" reportedly remained live on Roblox, with an "Add trusted friend" button, months after the safety reset.
- A website funneling users to sexual "condo" games advertised "Auto Uploads 24/7," promising removed games would "regenerate automatically"; the report says Roblox appeared to retain its usual 30% cut of linked game-pass sales.
- A developer told researchers that chat communications in the popular game Brookhaven RP fell 96% after Roblox's platform changes.
"We tested it, and we were able to bypass it in less than a minute for $1.54."
The author uses this line to summarize the report's claim that Roblox's one-time facial age check can be defeated simply by buying a pre-verified account.
FAQs
What did researchers find when testing RBLX's age verification system?
Researchers bought 100 Roblox accounts the platform had already age-verified, spanning $190.91 total, and logged into every one from different devices, countries, and VPNs between August and October 2026. None required reverification, which the report says proves the face scan only confirms identity at the moment of the scan, not afterward.
What is Roblox Corporation and how does its safety redesign work?
Roblox Corporation runs a gaming platform built heavily around a child audience, with a reported $39 billion market capitalization. In response to prior scrutiny, it introduced facial age estimation for chat in January 2026, sorted users into six age bands, restricted cross-band messaging, and created Kids and Select account types that limit under-16 users to fewer than 30,000 of Roblox's "millions" of experiences.
Who is Bleecker Street Research and why is it short Roblox?
Bleecker Street Research is the firm behind this report, and funds it manages are disclosed as holding a short position in Roblox. Its author, Chris Drose, argues the company's safety reset has failed to stop adult-child contact or prohibited content while permanently slowing the viral growth that previously drove new-user expansion.
How did an adult reportedly get around Roblox's Trusted Friend protections?
A purchased account Roblox had verified as belonging to a 13-to-15-year-old allegedly entered an email the researcher controlled and used an eight-year-old's debit card to approve a $1 authorization as parental proof. Roblox accepted this without checking ID, name, or address, which the report says opened unfiltered chat with a face-verified adult account.
What are Roblox "condo" games and are they still accessible?
Condo games are sexual content games that violate Roblox's Community Standards, which ban sexual content outright. The report cites an off-platform hub, Playcondogames.com, linking to Roblox game passes marketed as condo "Ranks" tied to an account created in May 2024 that remained active in October 2026, and says Roblox appeared to retain its usual 30% cut of related sales.
How much has Roblox's user growth slowed in 2026?
A panel study of 6.7 million accounts found new active users down about 50% year-over-year across Q3 2026, with registrations down roughly 40% and no improvement in September. Roblox-reported daily active users also fell from 151.5 million in Q3 2025 to 123 million in Q2 2026.
What legal exposure does Roblox face tied to child safety?
Roblox has settled with five states for approximately $54 million combined and faces suits from ten state attorneys general plus a federal multidistrict litigation, MDL 3166, filed in December 2025 in the Northern District of California. The report argues these settlements require controls Roblox says it has already built, controls the report alleges remain bypassable.
How has Roblox stock reacted to its 2026 results?
Shares fell 18% the day after Q1 2026 results cut full-year bookings guidance by about $950 million at the midpoint, then fell roughly 27% on July 31 after Q2 results, described as Roblox's worst day as a public company. The stock has since recovered that post-Q2 loss and rose 13% after Roblox's mid-September developer conference, even as Q3 bookings guidance calls for a 14%-18% decline.
Disclaimer: This summary is not primary research and does not constitute investment advice. It is a brief overview of a detailed equity research report authored by the firm, organization, or source referenced in this article or at https://www.bleeckerstreetresearch.com/research/rblx, which contains extensive evidence, regulatory filings, and analysis; readers are encouraged to review the full report there for a comprehensive understanding. The content provided in this publication is not authored or originated by us — we act solely as a distributor and do not endorse, verify, or take responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. This publication is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Always conduct independent due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions based on the information contained herein. We disclaim all liability for any loss or damage arising from reliance on third-party content, and the views expressed are solely those of the respective source and do not necessarily reflect our own.