- Xbox will now require age verification under the United Kingdom online security law
- Microsoft says that “from the beginning of next year”, certain social characteristics of Xbox will limit themselves to friends only in the United Kingdom unless the age verification is complete
- Players must use government identification, passport, credit card or other forms of identification to complete the process
Microsoft has announced that it will require age verification for the continuous use of Xbox social characteristics, according to the United Kingdom online security law.
In a new Xbox support publication, Microsoft said: “As part of our compliance program for the United Kingdom online Security Law and our ongoing investments in tools and technologies that help guarantee appropriate experiences for age, we are introducing age verification for Microsoft accounts in the United Kingdom.”
The company explained that players over 18 who do not verify their age between now and the beginning of 2026 can still play their Xbox console, but “at the beginning of next year”, certain social characteristics will be limited to friends only unless the age verification is completed.
For now, the accounts that belong to players over 18 in the United Kingdom are asked to verify their accounts and begin to see notifications that encourage them to verify their age. This is an optional process for now, but will change in early 2026.
Until the age of an account is verified, users can only use voice and text communication, party functionality and game invitations, and user generated content such as feeding the activity.
Without age verification, you cannot access the search characteristics of group and personalized clubs.
“If you have an existing account or you are configuring a new one, you may be asked to verify your age using Yoti, a reliable and safe third -party identity service,” says the publication.
There are several ways to verify the identity, even with a photo identification issued by the Government, such as a passport, a residence card or any other identification document issued by the government with the image of the user.
You can also use a live photo, identification verification, a mobile phone number to verify age through your carrier and a credit card check.
“If a player verifies his age, he will not affect the previous purchases, the rights, the game history, the achievements or the ability to play and buy games, however, we encourage the players to verify their age through this unique process now to avoid the uninterrupted use of the social characteristics in Xbox in the future,” said the president of Xbox, president of Gaming Trust and Safety Kunes in an Xbox cable uninterrupted.
“As this age verification process is implemented throughout the United Kingdom, we will continue to evaluate how we can keep players from all over the world and learn from the United Kingdom process. We hope to implement age verification processes to more regions in the future. There is no unique solution for the safety of players, so these methods may seem different in all regions and experiences.”
Xbox is not the first platform affected by the United Kingdom online security law. Reddit and Discord have also implemented verification systems of the new era to access 18+ content; However, players are already doing the discord tool using Death partyPhoto mode.
