Microsoft is rolling out Xbox age verification to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act

Microsoft has begun rolling out age verification checks on its Xbox platforms in the UK, in order to comply with the new Online Safety Act, which came into effect in the UK this week.

The new law forces companies that host adult content, such as pornography, to verify the age of users via banking details or government-issued ID.

While the Xbox verification is currently optional, this won’t be the case for long. In 2026, Xbox users who wish to use voice or text communication with those outside of their friends list to verify their age.

At the time of writing there’s no sign of similar age checks on PlayStation or Nintendo consoles, but these may arrive at some point.

Microsoft says it plans to learn from the UK rollout of the tools to apply similar safety efforts in other regions.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution to player safety, so these methods may look different across regions and experiences,” said Microsoft’s vice president of gaming trust and safety, Kim Kunes.

“We’ll work with local communities, publishing partners and regulators to determine the right approach that both respects player privacy and doesn’t take away from the Xbox gameplay experience. We’ll continue to communicate the changes we’re making to our practices and the data we collect so we can better protect players on our platform.”

Firms are taking the new law seriously, as penalties for non-compliance include fines of £18 million or 10% of their global revenues, a potentially massive blow to companies like Microsoft.

The law’s effectiveness has already been questioned online, with some users discovering that some sites can be bypassed with VPNs, while other age verification systems are so lax that Death Standing’s photo mode or an image from WWE 2K25 can bypass it.

“Whether a player verifies their age will not affect any previous purchases, entitlements, gameplay history, achievements, or the ability to play and purchase games,” Xbox says, “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.”

In April, Discord added a new age verification system for some users which requires them to scan their face or ID to access sensitive material.

The process, which was made active in the UK and Australia, was described by Discord as “an experiment”, but appeared to be a direct reaction to the then-upcoming UK law (and one passed in Australia last year which banned social media for children under 16).