Xbox introduces new age verification system to align with the UK's Online Safety Act

• Xbox will now require age verification under the UK's Online Safety Act
• Microsoft says "starting early next year", certain Xbox social features will be limited to friends only in the UK unless age verification is complete
• Players will need to use a government ID, passport, credit card, or other forms of identification to complete the process

Microsoft has announced that it will require age verification for the continued use of Xbox social features, per the UK's Online Safety Act.

In a new Xbox support post, Microsoft said: "As part of our compliance programme for the UK Online Safety Act and our ongoing investments in tools and technologies that help ensure age-appropriate experiences, we're introducing age verification for Microsoft accounts in the UK."

The company explained that players over the age of 18 who don't verify their age between now and the beginning of 2026 can still play their Xbox console, but "starting early next year", certain social features will be limited to friends only unless age verification is complete.

For now, accounts belonging to players 18 and over in the UK are being asked to verify their accounts and will begin seeing notifications encouraging them to verify their age. This is an optional process for now, but it will change come early 2026.

Until an account's age is verified, users will only be able to use voice and text communication, party functionality, and game invites, and user-generated content like the Activity Feed.

Without age verification, the Looking for Group and custom clubs features won't be accessible.

"If you have an existing account or are setting up a new one, you may be asked to verify your age using Yoti, a trusted and secure third-party identity verification service," the post reads.

There are several ways to verify identity, including with a government-issued photo ID, like a passport, residency card, or any other government-issued identification document with the user's picture on it.

They can also use a live photo, ID verification, a mobile number to verify age through their carrier, and a credit card check.

"Whether 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," said Xbox vice president of gaming trust and safety Kim Kunes in a separate Xbox Wire post.

"As this age verification process rolls out across the UK, we’ll continue to evaluate how we can keep players around the world safe and learn from the UK process. We expect to roll out age verification processes to more regions in the future. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to player safety, so these methods may look different across regions and experiences."

Xbox isn't the first platform to be affected by the UK's Online Safety Act. Reddit and Discord have also implemented new age verification systems to access 18+ content; however, gamers are already getting around Discord's tool by using Death Stranding's photo mode.

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