Xbox to Implement Age Verification in UK by Early 2026

Microsoft has started prompting Xbox users in the UK to verify their age to maintain full access to the platform’s social features, aligning with the country’s comprehensive Online Safety Act. The company expects to expand similar age verification measures to other regions in the future.

At present, the verification request targets only those accounts already registered as belonging to users aged 18 and over within the UK, and the process is optional. However, starting in early 2025, unverified accounts will face restrictions. These include losing access to Looking for Group (LFG) tools and custom clubs, limited interaction to voice and text chat, party features, and game invites exclusively with Xbox friends. Additionally, users will no longer be able to share or view user-generated content—such as Activity Feed posts—outside their friend list. Integration with Discord will be disabled, and Twitch broadcasting capabilities will also be removed.

"Age verification is a new feature being introduced for players logging into an Xbox experience with Microsoft accounts based in the UK," Microsoft explained in a recently published Q&A. "It helps ensure that we can continue to provide players on our platform with age-appropriate experiences and keep the Xbox community safe."

For verification, Microsoft is partnering with Yoti, a trusted third-party identity service widely adopted across the UK for secure age checks. Users can verify their age through several methods: submitting a live selfie, providing a mobile number for carrier-based age confirmation, using a credit card, or uploading a photo of a government-issued ID such as a passport, driver’s licence, or national ID card.

"Whether a player verifies their age will not affect any previous purchases, entitlements, gameplay history, achievements, or the ability to play and purchase games," said Kim Kunes, Vice President of Gaming Trust and Safety at Xbox. "However, we encourage players to complete this one-time verification now to ensure uninterrupted access to social features on Xbox in the future."

Kunes added, "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."

While Xbox is the first major console platform to publicly outline its compliance strategy with the UK’s Online Safety Act, it’s anticipated that PlayStation, Nintendo, and other gaming platforms will follow with similar requirements in the near future.