Roblox, a gaming platform popular with kids, will implement increased protections for young users and pay more than $12m to the state of Nevada in what the state attorney general, Aaron Ford, on Wednesday called a first-of-its-kind agreement.

“This settlement will create a safer environment for our children online, and I hope that it will serve as a bellwether for how online interactive platforms allow our state’s youth to use their products,” the Democrat said on Wednesday.

Roblox, which is used by nearly half of US children under 16, will give $10m over three years to support programs like the Boys and Girls Club and other nondigital activities, Ford said. It will also fund a law enforcement liaison position to respond to safety concerns about the platform and fund an online safety awareness campaign, Ford said.

The settlement, which was agreed upon in lieu of litigation, includes enhanced protections for minors who use the app, such as requiring age verification for all users and restricting night-time notifications for minors. The gaming platform faces litigation in other states, including Texas and Kentucky , which allege it fails to protect children.

“Roblox is proud to have worked alongside Attorney General Ford to reach this landmark agreement, which builds on our work to establish a new standard for digital safety,” Matt Kaufman, Roblox’s chief safety officer, said in a statement.

Kaufman said the agreement created a blueprint for how industry and regulators can work together to protect children.

The settlement comes as prosecutors have filed lawsuits against social media companies over the role they play in children’s lives. Last month in California and New Mexico , social media companies like Meta and YouTube were found liable for designing their platforms to hook young users and were ordered to pay more than $375m in penalties.

Ford also has lawsuits pending against Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Kik, alleging the companies failed to implement safety measures for children.

As part of the agreement, Roblox will implement facial age-estimation technology to limit younger users’ chats to only those in similar age groups. Adult users and users under 16 will not be allowed to chat unless they are communicating with a trusted friend, Ford said. A trusted friend can be added through a QR code or their phone contacts to ensure the child knows the person outside of the platform, he said. The company will also monitor activity to see whether a user has lied about their age, he said.

Roblox will create kids’ accounts for users under age 16 that block access to adult-rated content and provide games vetted for suitability. The agreement also expands parental oversight to users under 16. That oversight was previously available only for users under 13.

Donch’e King, supervising criminal investigator at the attorney general’s office, said half a million online predators pursue children at any given moment, often across multiple platforms. The majority of predatory contact occurs through chatrooms and instant messaging, he said. He urged parents to communicate frankly with their children about the platforms they are on and to report concerns to law enforcement.

“Protecting Nevada’s children is not an option. It’s our duty,” King said.