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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsPopular gaming services do not protect children in the same way. In an October 2026 report, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner found differences in how Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft and Steam assess user-created games, detect harmful material, gate features by age, handle reports and share safety signals. The findings describe providers’ disclosed systems between 1 October 2025 and 31 March 2026; they do not establish that every game on those services is unsafe. eSafety also says receiving a transparency notice is not, by itself, evidence of deficient practices or a statement about compliance.
What eSafety examined—and what its findings mean
On 1 April 2026, eSafety issued non-periodic transparency notices to Roblox, Mojang Studios (Minecraft), Epic Games (Fortnite) and Valve (Steam and Steam Chat). The companies were required to describe measures addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse, violent material and activity, cyberbullying and online hate. The report covers protections from 1 October 2025 through 31 March 2026. eSafety selected these services because of their popularity among Australian children. (eSafety’s October 2026 transparency report; media release)
A transparency notice is a reporting mechanism, not a verdict. eSafety expressly cautions that receiving one does not necessarily mean a provider has deficient safety practices, nor does it itself indicate the regulator’s view or level of concern about compliance. The report compares the controls companies described during a defined period; it is not a finding that gaming causes harm or that every title, chat or user on a service poses the same risk.
The stakes are broad: eSafety says that in 2024, 89% of Australian children aged 8–17 had played online games in the previous year, 79% had played a multiplayer online game, and 40% had played online with people they did not know offline. These are 2024 figures, not a new 2026 survey. Games may bring together user-created material, social features, chats and third-party servers. A store rating or an account setting alone cannot describe how all those parts are detected, moderated or managed.
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How the platforms’ controls differed
eSafety did not produce a single safety score or rank the services overall. The comparison below highlights specific differences the regulator reported; each platform has multiple controls, and the table is not a complete measure of a child’s experience.
| Service | Review of games or user-created content | Detection and chat practices reported | Age assurance reported | Information sharing reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roblox | Used tools to identify harmful user-created Experiences after publication. | Used internal data to train language-analysis models and did not regularly retrain them; eSafety also said several tools were not frequently updated against training data. The report describes proactive tools, but not a universal guarantee that harmful material will be caught. | Started stronger age-assurance measures for Australian users on 3 December 2025, limiting certain high-risk features to users identified as adults. | Participated in some cross-industry initiatives. |
| Fortnite / Epic Games | Reviewed each Fortnite Island before it became accessible. | Used internal and synthetically generated data, seeded with external lists, for chat monitoring. | Generally relied on self-declared ages at signup; users declaring themselves adults could access some higher-risk features without additional checks. | Did not share child sexual exploitation and abuse signals through Lantern. |
| Minecraft / Mojang Studios | Self-declared adults could enter third-party-hosted worlds that Mojang did not proactively moderate. | Used external keyword lists concerning violence, but not child sexual exploitation and abuse. | Generally relied on self-declared ages at signup; users declaring themselves adults could access some higher-risk features without additional checks. | Participated in some cross-industry initiatives. |
| Steam and Steam Chat / Valve | Had pre-publication review processes, but eSafety said Valve relied on user reports to identify unlawful material in published games. | Was the only provider not using hash-matching tools across Steam and Steam Chat. It lacked proactive detection tools for harms in Steam Chat and Steam Community group chats, apart from a URL tool that mainly blocked scams. eSafety said this left those chats with limited protection against child sexual exploitation and abuse and violence material and activity. Valve also relied on internal data to train language-analysis models and did not regularly retrain them. | During the report period, relied on self-declared age and did not collect age-related information. | Did not participate in cross-industry initiatives. |
All platform details in the table describe practices reported for the period 1 October 2025–31 March 2026, unless a later date is explicitly given. The source is eSafety’s October 2026 transparency report.
Review before or after publication
Pre-publication review can prevent some material from being accessible in the first place, while post-publication detection depends on tools or reports finding it after release. The report describes Fortnite Islands as reviewed before they became accessible, Roblox as using tools to identify harmful Experiences after publication, and Valve as combining pre-publication review processes with user reports to identify unlawful material in published games. Minecraft’s third-party-hosted worlds present a different boundary: eSafety said self-declared adults could access worlds Mojang did not proactively moderate. These are distinct approaches, not a common test showing which catches more material.
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Detection is not one tool or one surface
Image or hash matching, language analysis, keyword lists, user reports and URL blocking address different signals. Their coverage also matters: eSafety’s concern about Valve was specifically that Steam Chat and Steam Community group chats lacked proactive harm detection beyond a URL tool mainly aimed at scams. It reported that Valve was the only provider not using hash-matching tools across Steam and Steam Chat. More broadly, the report identified differences in language-analysis training and updates: Roblox and Valve used internal data and did not regularly retrain models; Mojang’s external keyword lists addressed violence but not child sexual exploitation and abuse; Epic used internal and synthetic data seeded with external lists for chat monitoring. These disclosures describe reported practices, not independently measured current accuracy.
Age settings are not always age checks
Self-declared birth dates depend on what a user enters. For the report period, Epic and Mojang generally relied on self-declared ages at signup, and eSafety said users declaring themselves adults could access some higher-risk features without additional checks. Valve relied on self-declared age and did not collect age-related information during that period. Roblox began stronger age assurance for Australian users on 3 December 2025, with certain higher-risk features limited to users identified as adults.
There was a subsequent change for Steam in Australia: eSafety’s report says Steam began credit-card age checks for R18+ games from 9 September 2026 under the app distribution code, after the period assessed. The regulator’s media release said it was seeking additional age-assurance options. This later measure should not be confused with the report-period description of Valve’s age practices. (eSafety media release)
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Reports, repeat bans and staffing also matter
Automated detection is only part of a safety system. eSafety also found differences among providers in response times to reports, identifying users who returned after bans, trust-and-safety staffing and language coverage. These factors affect how a service can respond when a user flags a problem or an account reappears. The report does not establish a single composite measure that would support an overall ranking of the four services.
Signals can follow users across services
eSafety found variation in participation in cross-industry initiatives: Minecraft and Roblox participated in some, Valve did not participate in any such initiatives, and Epic did not share child sexual exploitation and abuse signals through Lantern. The regulator says sharing signals can help services respond to risks that follow users across interconnected services. Participation in an initiative is one part of the picture; it does not, by itself, establish a platform’s overall safety.
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A separate enforcement update concerns eSafety testing earlier in 2026, not a general finding about every Roblox account. The regulator said its testing found adults could send connection requests to young Australian children without parental consent; children and adults could view and respond to one another’s out-of-game forum posts without consent; children’s connections were visible to anyone on Roblox; and profile details—including usernames, connections, avatars and non-sensitive biographical information—could be seen without an option to restrict that visibility. These are findings attributed to the regulator’s testing. (eSafety’s Roblox undertaking update)
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Roblox agreed to measures including preventing adults from contacting unknown children without parental consent, making children’s accounts private by default, improving access to complaint mechanisms and notifying users of outcomes, and commissioning an independent third-party audit of safety measures, including age estimation. eSafety said the company had three months to implement the changes and could face Federal Court action for breach of the undertaking. The update also cited an estimate that about 1.7 million Australian children were on Roblox, attributed to recent national research; the regulator’s page does not name the research organisation in its body text. That estimate is separate from the 2024 gaming participation percentages above.
What parents can do when a child plays online
There is no single setting that can guarantee safety across a game, its chats and its connected services. A useful approach is to understand where a child is playing and communicating, agree on how they will handle unwanted interactions, and know how to report a concern on the service.
- Ask about the whole experience. Find out whether the child plays user-created games, joins third-party-hosted worlds, uses voice or text chat, or interacts with people they do not know offline.
- Review account and communication settings together. Check who can contact the child, see profile details or join their games. Settings and labels vary, and age declarations do not necessarily amount to age verification.
- Talk through what to do if something feels wrong. Agree that the child can leave a game or chat, block or report an account, and tell a trusted adult without fear of losing access or being blamed.
- Use the service’s reporting process and keep relevant details. If an incident occurs, note the account name, game or chat, and approximate time; use the platform’s reporting tools and seek help from appropriate authorities if there is an immediate safety concern.
- Use eSafety’s family guidance. The regulator’s Gaming Toolkit and Gaming Guide for Parents cover getting started, gaming together, playing with others, in-game spending and sharing safely. They are practical resources, not a guarantee that any setting can eliminate risk.
Why the report is about platform systems, not a blanket verdict on games
Games and gaming services can combine different content, communications and hosting arrangements. The regulator’s report focuses on providers’ disclosed controls and their coverage during a specified period. Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Australian children “have a right to play online without being exposed to predators, sexual extortionists, violent extremist content or other harmful material.” In a separate blog, she cited examples such as bathroom-simulator games, mass-shooting recreations and terrorist propaganda to explain why safety risks should be considered upfront; those examples are not estimates of how common such material is. (eSafety media release; Commissioner’s 2 October 2026 blog)
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