- Xbox will now require age verification under the UK online security law
- Microsoft says “From the beginning of next year”, some Xbox social features will only be limited to friends only in the United Kingdom, unless age verification is finished
- Players will have to use an ID from the government, a passport, a credit card or other forms of identification to complete the process
Microsoft has announced that it would require an age verification for the continuous use of Xbox’s social features, according to the UK online security law.
In a new Xbox assistance article, Microsoft said: “As part of our compliance program for UK Online Safety Act and our investments in progress in tools and technologies that help guarantee experiences suitable for age, we introduce age check for Microsoft accounts in the United Kingdom.”
The company explained that players over 18 who do not check their age from here and the beginning of 2026 can still play their Xbox console, but “from the beginning of next year”, certain social characteristics will only be limited to friends than the age verification is finished.
For the moment, the accounts belonging to players aged 18 and over in the United Kingdom are invited to check their accounts and will begin to see notifications encouraging them to check their age. This is an optional process for the moment, but it will change the beginning of 2026.
Until the age of an account is verified, users can only use vocal communication and text, party features and game invitations and the content generated by users such as activity flow.
Without age verification, the search for group features and personalized clubs will not be accessible.
“If you have an existing account or if you create a new one, it may be requested to check your age using Yoti, a trusted and secure third party identity verification service,” said the message.
There are several ways to verify the identity, in particular with a photo identifier 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.
They can also use a live photo, an identification verification, a mobile number to check age via their operator and a credit card check.
“The fact that a player checks his age will not affect purchases, rights, history, achievements or the possibility of playing and buying games, but we encourage players to verify their age via this unique process to avoid uninterrupted use of social features on Xbox in the future,” said Xbox vice-president of the game and Kim Kunes separated.
“As this age verification process takes place through the United Kingdom, we will continue to assess how we can ensure the safety of players around the world and learn from the British process. We expect to deploy age verification processes to more regions in the future. There is no unique solution for players’ safety, so that these methods may seem different through regions and experiences.”
Xbox is not the first platform to be affected by the UK online security law. Reddit and Discord have also implemented New Age verification systems to access 18+ content; However, players already bypass the discord tool using Death of deathPhoto fashion.
