Age verification now mandatory for Xbox accounts in the UK

Microsoft has announced that it will initiate the process of age verification for Xbox UK accounts to comply with the Online Safety Act, which came into effect on July 25, 2025.

The act requires social media and entertainment companies to implement a user verification method that prevents children from accessing harmful or age-inappropriate content.

Several adult sites and social media platforms like Reddit have already begun to roll out verification methods to comply with the new laws.

Starting today, "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."

Microsoft says this will be a "one-time process." Players can verify their identity using a government-issued ID, credit card checks, age estimation, or mobile provider checks.

According to The Verge, Microsoft has partnered with Yoti, a UK-based identity company. Players who choose not to verify their age can continue to play games on their Xbox accounts. However, from early 2026, age verification will be mandatory to access the social features on their accounts, "such as voice or text communication and game invites."

Microsoft highly encourages players in the UK to "verify their age via this one-time process now to avoid uninterrupted use of social features on Xbox."

Funnily enough, there are already some clever workarounds to the process, such as using Death Stranding 2's photo mode to bypass the verification. The law has also sparked a surge in VPN usage in the country.

The law has already sparked a massive debate on the potential privacy threats and the requirement to submit sensitive information. Many non-profit organizations, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have spoken up against the bill.