Xbox Will Require Age Verification Beginning In 2026 For The UK

Microsoft has announced that it will be implementing new age verification systems on Xbox to comply with the United Kingdom's Online Safety Act, which went into force recently. Starting in 2026, Xbox will restrict social features for non-verified users under 18 years old, while verified adults will retain the ability to interact with anyone on the platform. Microsoft assured users that no other features, such as buying and playing games, will be restricted based on age verification status. Users will be able to verify their age through various methods, including uploading a government ID, a credit card check, and age estimation technology. The Online Safety Act requires platforms that allow sexually explicit or pornographic material to verify the age of their users, leading many social media platforms to adopt these measures preemptively. The rapid adoption of facial recognition technology for age estimation has also sparked some workarounds, with reports of gamers using detailed face models from games like Death Stranding 2 to bypass the age estimation checks. As more of these machine learning-powered age checks are implemented, it is likely that we will see more attempts to evade the provisions of the law.