Microsoft is starting to comply with the UK\u2019s Online Safety Act by prompting Xbox players to verify their age today. The prompts will be shown to Xbox players who indicate they\u2019re over the age of 18 and will be shown when you sign into an Xbox account in the UK. Microsoft says it\u2019s also exploring bringing similar age verification tools to other countries in the future.<\/p>\n
To power the age verification in the UK, Microsoft is partnering with Yoti, which is one of the services that hasn\u2019t fallen victim to the Death Stranding photo mode bypass<\/a>. While the age verification checks are optional right now, they will become a requirement to access a variety of Xbox services in early 2026, when additional parts of the UK\u2019s Online Safety Act come into force<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cStarting early next year, age verification will be required for these players in the UK to retain full access to social features on Xbox, such as voice or text communication and game invites,\u201d explains Kim Kunes<\/a>, vice president of gaming trust and safety at Xbox. If you don\u2019t verify your age between now and early next year, social features \u201cwill become limited to friends only\u201d until the age verification process has been completed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether a player verifies their age will not affect any previous purchases, entitlements, gameplay history, achievements, or the ability to play and purchase games, however we encourage players to verify their age via this one-time process now to avoid uninterrupted use of social features on Xbox in the future,\u201d Kunes says.<\/p>\n While this is limited to Xbox players in the UK right now, Kunes says, \u201cWe expect to roll out age verification processes to more regions in the future.\u201d Microsoft isn\u2019t revealing which other regions will get similar age verification requirements, but Kunes does note that \u201cthese methods may look different across regions and experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n