Children in the UK are spending up to 40 minutes a day on Roblox
Key Points
- Children aged 8–9 spend 40 minutes a day on Roblox
- Daily use falls to 12 minutes among 13–14-year-olds
- Roblox reaches 58% of online 8–14-year-olds each month
- It ranks fourth among all apps, behind YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook
Children aged 8–9 in the UK spend an average of 40 minutes a day on Roblox, Ofcom has said. The regulator published the figure on Tuesday (13 October) in Growing Up Gaming, a new summary of its research into children’s gaming habits.
Daily time on Roblox falls to 27 minutes among 10–12-year-olds and 12 minutes among 13–14-year-olds.
The data comes from Ofcom’s Children’s Passive Online Measurement study, which tracked how 701 children used apps and websites on smartphones, tablets and computers. The study does not cover games consoles.
Roblox reached 58% of online 8–14-year-olds in a month, making it the most widely used gaming app in that age group. Clash Royale ranked second among gaming apps at 16%, followed by Paper.io 2 at 10% and Block Blast! at 9%.
Roblox ranked fourth among all apps used by 8–14s, behind YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook, and was the only gaming app in the top 10.
The platform reached 71% of children using iPhones, where it ranked fourth, and 38% of children using Android phones, where it ranked seventh.
Children in Ofcom’s Children’s Media Lives study said they also watch streamers play Roblox and add players they meet in games to their friends lists.
Roblox places users under 16 into age-based accounts, with Roblox Kids for 5–8-year-olds and Roblox Select for 9–15-year-olds. Chat stays off by default for users aged 5–8, and users can only chat with others in a similar age band, apart from trusted friends.
Ofcom’s wider research found that 88% of children aged 3–17 in the UK play games on some kind of device, rising to 96% among 10–12-year-olds.
