At Xbox, we’re committed to providing players with a safe and secure experience on our platform. Since launching our first ever gaming console that could connect players online in 2005, we’ve continued to invest in state-of-the-art tools and technologies to protect the Xbox community. Over more than two decades of experience, we’ve developed a multifaceted safety, privacy, and security approach that features built-in safety measures, respects player privacy, and empowers players, parents, and caregivers to have control over their gaming experiences.
We frequently iterate on these safety measures in collaboration with our community, publishing partners, and industry regulators to ensure we’re providing our players with the safest possible experience. Beginning today, as part of our compliance program for the UK Online Safety Act and our ongoing investments in tools and technologies that help ensure age-appropriate experiences, players who indicate their account age as 18 and over, based in the UK, and signing into an Xbox experience with a Microsoft account will begin seeing notifications encouraging them to verify their age. This one-time process for players in the UK ensures we can continue to provide all players on our platform with age-appropriate experiences.
Starting early next year, age verification will be required for these players in the UK to retain full access to social features on Xbox, such as voice or text communication and game invites. Players who don’t verify their age between now and early 2026 can continue to play and enjoy Xbox. However, starting early next year, their use of social features on Xbox will become limited to friends only until they complete the age verification process. 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.
Adults in the UK can begin the age verification process now on their mobile device by scanning the QR code to then left, or by clicking this link: https://aka.ms/XboxUKAgeVerification
Players who prefer to verify via web can begin the process by signing into their Microsoft account at https://aka.ms/XboxUKAgeVerification.
There are several easy and secure methods for age verification that players can choose from, including proof of government-issued ID, age estimation, mobile provider check, and credit card check. The information players provide during the age verification process is protected with industry-standard encryption and is not stored or used for any other purpose. Additional information about the age verification process, including step-by-step instructions, the options players have for verifying their age, and how player data is kept private and secure, is available at aka.ms/XboxUKAgeSupport.
The Future of Safety at Xbox Globally
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. 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.
Additional Resources
We encourage parents and caregivers of children or teens who use an Xbox console to set up child or teen accounts, which do not require age verification and allow them to manage gaming activities like screentime, spending limits, privacy and content settings, and more using the Xbox Family Settings app. You can learn more at www.xbox.com/en-US/family-hub or check out the Xbox Gaming Safety Toolkit to read more about how caregivers can support safer gaming.
For more information on Microsoft privacy, safety, and responsible gaming, please see the below list of resources: