Recap: Digital platforms across the United Kingdom are adjusting their operations after the country’s new Online Safety Act came into force, with Microsoft’s Xbox gaming service among the latest to announce compliance measures. The legislation, aimed at making digital spaces safer for children and young people, has set off a wave of new regulations that require internet companies to verify users’ ages if their platforms could potentially host explicit or harmful content.
Microsoft confirmed this week that it is introducing age verification procedures for Xbox users in Britain. These new processes, which will become mandatory in 2026, mean that users who do not verify their age will have limited access to certain Xbox social features. While verified adults will continue to communicate freely with anyone on the platform, non-verified users – including minors – will be restricted to socializing with existing friends. Microsoft also said that these restrictions would not affect players’ ability to purchase or play games.
To complete age checks, Microsoft will offer UK users several options, including the traditional methods of uploading a government ID or using a credit card for verification, as well as more advanced options like automated age estimation. The company stated that users’ private data submitted during this process will be protected with industry-standard encryption and will not be stored or repurposed.
The Online Safety Act, which was put forward by policymakers as a child-protection measure, compels platforms that can host sexually explicit or otherwise harmful material to ensure users are of appropriate age. The law’s broad definition of potentially harmful content, which covers not just professional materials but also user posts and forum discussions, has led social networks and gaming platforms to tighten their age-gating measures preemptively.
Meanwhile, the shift toward machine-learning-powered age checks has prompted some users to seek workarounds. Recent reports have emerged of British gamers using highly realistic digital likenesses created with Death Stranding 2’s character creation tools to attempt to bypass facial recognition-based age verification.
Microsoft said the new requirements reflect its ongoing commitment to player safety and privacy. For now, the immediate impact will be felt only by UK-based Xbox users, but Microsoft indicated that it plans to evaluate and potentially expand similar verification systems to other regions in the future.