Gabriel Stanford-ReisingerIt was bound to happen thanks to the Online Safety Act that was just put in effect, but Xbox has begun rolling out age verification in the UK. Right now, the verification is optional and is only targeting accounts over 18.
Xbox announced their means to comply with the recent UK regulations on Xbox Wire, noting that this currently optional thing will no longer be an option in early 2026 and it plans on implementing similar changes in other countries.
Any user who isn’t verified will be limited to friends only within voice, text, and party communications alongside the Activity Feed. Additionally, you’ll lose access to Looking for Groups, custom clubs, Discord integration, and broadcasting on Twitch.
To accomplish this age verification, Microsoft has teamed up with Yoti, which requires you provide any number of identifiers, such as a government-issued ID, a credit card, live photo, or a phone number to verify through your provider.
Xbox is the first to outline their plans to comply with the safety rules within the UK, but we know Sony won’t get out of this, nor will Nintendo. It’s only a matter of time before they come out of the wood works to reveal their plans.
What do you think? Do you trust this new policy and would you be willing to provide your a photo or government-issued ID to access the console’s full potential? Let us know below!