It comes after parents raised concerns that its age-estimation technology could misclassify children and expose them to less restricted versions of the service.

The platform, which says it has 144 million daily users worldwide, is introducing age-specific account types – Roblox Kids and Roblox Select – designed to tailor content, communication features and access based on a user’s estimated age.

Its system, which includes facial analysis, is already used by more than half of users.

Parents, however, told BBC News children have been incorrectly identified as adults during checks, reducing parental controls and safeguards.

Matt Kaufman, Roblox's chief safety officer, said: “When you ask them that simple question, users are going to tell you whatever they want to tell you in order to get access.”

He added the system typically estimates age “within about 1.4 years, plus or minus” for those under 18, arguing it is more reliable than self-reported ages, though Roblox has not published data on how often misclassification occurs.

Under the changes, Roblox Kids accounts will offer a simplified interface, no communication tools and access only to a curated set of games.

Roblox Select, aimed at users aged nine to 15, will allow limited communication and a broader but still restricted content library.

Users who do not complete age checks will be restricted to children’s content and prevented from communicating on the platform.

The move follows concerns raised by the mother of a 14-year-old girl who was groomed into sending explicit images to an adult, who said the platform was not doing enough to protect children.

Roblox says its age-banding system is intended to limit interaction between children, teenagers and adults and reduce risks such as grooming.

Matt added Roblox uses a range of signals to determine which games are suitable for younger users, including how long content has been available and the behaviour of its creators.

The company says it has more than two million developers producing games for the platform.

Responding to criticism from a developer cited by the BBC, Matt added: “It’s irresponsible to choose one of those two million and have their opinion dictate how everybody feels about the platform.”

Matt also said: “Because we’re the biggest online gaming platform in the world, it makes sense that there’s a lot of attention on us” – adding Roblox was “going above and beyond what any other gaming platform is doing” when it comes to safety measures for users.