Roblox shares sink after safety measures force bookings forecast cut

Roblox is learning the cost of making a fast-growing platform safer for children and younger teens. The company’s latest forecast cut, which sent shares down 24% in premarket trading and put more than $7 billion of market value at risk, showed investors that tighter controls can slow the very growth that made the business so valuable.

The San Mateo, California, company now expects full-year 2026 bookings of $7.33 billion to $7.6 billion, down sharply from a prior forecast of $8.28 billion to $8.55 billion. Roblox said the lower outlook reflects friction from a broader safety overhaul that includes age-based accounts, age verification, expanded content monitoring and more restrictive communication features. The measures are designed to reduce exposure to harmful content, but they also make the platform harder to use and harder to grow.

That tension was already visible in the company’s first-quarter results. Roblox reported revenue of $1.44 billion, bookings of $1.73 billion and daily active users of 132 million, up 35% from a year earlier. Even with those gains, the company still pulled back its full-year guidance as the safety changes began to weigh on user acquisition and engagement, especially among younger users.

The rollout has been moving for months. On January 7, Roblox said U.S. users would need to complete an age check to chat, later expanding the requirement globally wherever chat is available. By February 5, 45% of its 144 million global daily active users had already completed an age check. On April 13, the company introduced Roblox Kids accounts for ages 5 to 8 and Roblox Select accounts for ages 9 to 15, while saying more than 50% of global users and 65% of U.S. users had completed an age check. Roblox also said users under 16 would keep access to the vast majority of their favorite games at launch, while users 16 and older would see no change.

Jefferies said the size of the guide cut suggested management had limited visibility, making it hard for investors to view the new forecast as merely cautious. The market response reflected a deeper concern: Roblox’s user-generated model makes moderation expensive and difficult, and the company is now trying to reassure parents, regulators and advertisers without sacrificing the growth engine that drove its rise. That balance matters more as Fortnite competes for attention and Take-Two Interactive’s expected Grand Theft Auto VI looms as another pull on time and spending.