MICROSOFT is warning Xbox owners that they’ll need to verify their age – or end up locked out from online features.
Upset gamers have called it an “invasion of privacy” over the rule change, which will ask players to show ID or scan their face to prove their age.
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An email seen by The Sun confirmed plans to start enforcing the rules in “early 2026”.
The console giant says it’s a bid to comply with the UK Online Safety Act, which demands that tech companies verify user ages to access adult experiences.
If you don’t verify yourself as over 18 on Xbox soon, you’ll be unable to chat online with pals or accept game invites.
“At Xbox, we are committed to providing players with a safe and secure experience on our platform,” Xbox explained in the email sent to players.
Microsoft-owned Xbox continued: “As part of our compliance program for the UK Online Safety Act and our ongoing investments in tools and technologies that help ensure age-appropriate experiences, we need you to verify your age so you can continue enjoying social features on Xbox.”
SAFETY FIRST
New age verification rules came into force in the UK on July 25 this year in a bid to protect children from seeing unsafe content online.
It demanded booze-style age checks that involve showing ID, proving your age with a credit card, or scanning your face with a phone to get an age estimate.
The rules affect any websites showing porn, or content linked to self-harm, suicide, or eating disorders.
But they also impact mainstream services, like social media websites or gaming platforms.
Xbox says it will use an external service to check user ages.
“We’re partnering with Yoti, a trusted third-party identity verification provider, to give you a menu of options for how to securely verify your age,” Xbox told gamers.
“Starting early next year, age verification will be required for you to retain full access to social features on Xbox, such as voice or text communication and game invites.
“Until verification is completed, access to these features will be limited to friends only.”
Xbox added: “To maintain full capabilities of social features on Xbox, including messaging, chat, and game invites, please verify your age.”
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Xbox said that although your social features will be limited if you don’t age-verify, it won’t affect any of the following that you’ve previously earned:
- Purchases
- Entitlements
- Gameplay history
- Achievements
So if you’ve bought a game, you won’t lose access to it just because you haven’t age-verified.
Xbox also urged parents to switch on parental controls to keep kids safe on the console.
“We encourage parents and caregivers of children or teens who use an Xbox console to set up child or teen accounts,” Xbox said.
“Which allow them to manage gaming activities like screen time, spending limits, privacy and content settings, and more using the Xbox Family Settings app.”
GAME OVER?
Some gamers were upset by the move.
One Reddit user said: “That’s the job for parents not companies.”
HOW CAN YOU VERIFY YOUR AGE?
Here are some of the ways Brits can now verify their age under the Online Safety Act…
Ofcom told The Sun that there are three main techniques for age verification.
One option is called “age estimation”.
This works by scanning your face using an approved service like Yoti or Persona.
Or it can also work be estimating your age with an email check to see if it’s been linked to a household utility bill.
A second option is linking back to info that’s held on you.
So that could be checking with your bank or mobile phone company, both of which would know if you’re an adult or not.
And the third method is sharing an official document, just like you would when buying alcohol at a supermarket checkout.
You could show a passport or driver’s licence online to prove your age.
Another wrote: “I do not like the direction the world is going to, it’s depressing.”
One said added “this is such a joke” and noted: “This is an extreme invasion of privacy.”
Another complained: “We can’t be trusted to parent our own children.”
And one noted: “How exactly does this protect children? It punishes children who were safe anyway because they behave and abide by these rules.
“And the children who actually are accessing harmful content will continue to do so because these ID tools can be bypassed and their parents don’t care.”
OFCOM CRACKDOWN
Ofcom is leading the crackdown on platforms, with the potential to heavily fine any service found to be breaking the new rules.
The maximum fine is £18 million, but very large companies can be fined a higher amount of 10% of global revenue.
“It’s really the rubber hitting the road,” Oliver Griffiths, group director for online safety at Ofcom, told The Sun last month.
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“The situation at the moment is often ridiculous because people just have to self-declare what their birthday is. That’s no check at all.”
Once the rules came into effect, there was a surge in Brits using VPNs to get around the age blocks.
VPNs, or virtual private networks, are a common privacy app designed to encrypt your web traffic so it can’t be spied on.
But they also allow a user to pretend they’re from another country.
This is often used by people illegally streaming movies, TV shows and live sports.
But Brits have also used it to circumvent the age checks to access adult content, by pretending to be from countries where the rules don’t apply.
