It’s been almost year since Roblox disabled in game text and voice chat in the Middle East on September 4, 2025.
Honestly, it’s becoming really frustrating, because chat is one of the biggest parts of Roblox. Whether you’re playing with friends, asking for help, trading, roleplaying, or just talking to other players, it makes games feel alive. Without it, a lot of experiences just aren’t the same.
The Middle East has a huge Roblox community with thousands of players and developers. Yet we’ve gone nearly a full year without one of the platform’s basic features. I understand there may have been legal or regulatory reasons behind the decision, but almost a year without any meaningful update is disappointing.
Many games are built around communication. Some are difficult or even impossible to enjoy properly without chat. Players in our region are missing out on features that everyone else can use.
I’m not asking Roblox to ignore local regulations. I’m simply asking for an update. If there’s any progress, or if Roblox is still working with the relevant authorities, it would be great to know. Even a small update would reassure the community that this hasn’t been forgotten.
I know I’m not the only one affected. There are many players across the UAE and the wider Middle East who would love to see chat return.
Hopefully Roblox can provide some information soon.
It’s one thing for Middle Eastern countries to directly ask Roblox to ban chat. If that alone was the case I wouldn’t blame Roblox for it.
But for Roblox themselves to restrict Middle Eastern players from changing their account location, even when a VPN is used, this feels like an intentional and deliberate decision made by Roblox executives to restrict players of certain regions and isolate them entirely from the rest of the platform.
I don’t think they will ever bring it back, on one hand you have these countries banning Roblox and making regulations to restrict it, but on the other hand you got Roblox themselves actively fighting and trying to prevent Middle Eastern players from accessing chat. And for some reason games like PUBG and Free Fire continue to have text chat & voice chat with zero regulations in these regions.
That’s what’s frustrating the most. It’s been almost a year, and we still don’t know whether this is due to local regulations, Roblox’s own policies, or both. Regardless of the reason, the lack of communication has left thousands of players and developers in the Middle East without one of Roblox’s core features. An official update would go a long way.
I also noticed something interesting while looking through Roblox Careers.
Roblox is currently hiring a Director of Public Policy, UAE/Middle East, based in Dubai. According to the job description, the role involves working with policy makers and stake holders across the MENA region on topics including gaming, child safety, privacy, and consumer protection.
While this doesn’t necessarily mean chat will return, it does show that Roblox is actively investing in public policy efforts within the region. That gives me hope that they’re continuing to engage with regional authorities and work through these issues.
More than anything, I’d love to see Roblox provide an official update on the status of chat in the UAE and the wider Middle East. Even if there’s no ETA, knowing whether progress is being made would mean a lot to the community.
Perhaps it may be on September 3rd, but on most articles says it’s September 4 but that’s not the main issue, the issue here is it’s been nearly a year without any updates.
