How does audience age change what a brand can advertise on Roblox?
The platform splits its rules across four age bands: 5-8, 9-12, under-13 as a whole, and 18+. Which one you target decides which categories, claims and formats are open.
Roblox’s Advertising Standards apply different rules at 5-8, 9-12, under-13 generally, and 18+. Picking the intended audience is therefore the first media decision, because it governs everything after it.
The rule that applies everywhere
Ads may not be personalised for users under the age of 18. Targeting mechanics carried over from social platforms behave differently here, and a plan built on lookalikes needs rewriting before it reaches the platform.
Ages 5-8
The tightest band. On top of everything restricted for older children, ads may not depict or promote PG-13 or TV-14 rated video content, or video games rated Teen or PEGI-12.
Ages 9-12
Ads may not depict or promote R-rated films, TV-MA shows, video games rated M or PEGI 18, music carrying explicit-lyric warnings, or books with adult themes.
Under 13 as a whole
Whole categories close: food and beverages of any kind, personal care, cosmetics, fitness, weight-loss, diet and nutritional products. Non-medicated hygiene products are the stated exception.
Also closed below 13: real-world undergarments, swimwear, body-shaping and compression clothing; social media and messaging services, e-commerce, live streaming and AI chatbots; adults-oriented travel and extreme adventure travel; sports with an inherently high degree of risk; toys based on products intended for 18+ audiences.
When the audience includes under-18s
Creative rules apply on top of category rules. Ads may not portray people using a product in a hazardous way, and where an activity normally requires safety equipment — a helmet with a skateboard — the ad has to show it.
Ads may not imply the product confers enhanced performance, special skills, status or popularity. They may not urge children to buy, or to ask an adult to buy for them. Price qualifiers like “only” and “just” are prohibited.
18+ and the managed route
Some categories reopen at 18+, and only through campaigns Roblox manages directly for regulated partners above a $25,000 budget: certain financial products, R-rated and TV-MA media, mature-rated games, explicit-lyric music, and a short list of over-the-counter health products.
What to do with this in a brief
Write the intended audience age at the top of the brief and let it decide the category, the claim and the format. Most rejected campaigns we see were planned for an audience the brand wanted and executed against a rule set for the audience it actually got.
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