Xbox will require age verification to use voice and text chat in the UK in 2026

With the UK’s new Online Safety Act, Xbox is beginning to roll out age verification checks that are currently optional but will be required in 2026 in order to use text and voice chat with players not added to their friends list.

The details:

• Earlier this week, the Online Safety Act came into effect in the UK after being passed in parliament back in 2023. The legislation is designed to prevent children from being exposed to harmful content such as pornography and extreme violence online. However, it has been met with backlash as adult users who wish to access the content must now verify their identity via facial scan or government-issued ID, raising privacy concerns and discussions surrounding the policing of online content.
• Microsoft has now announced that in order to conform with the new act, it has began rolling out new age verification tools to allow Xbox users to prove that they are over the age of 18. The testing of tools within the UK will also allow Microsoft to refine the process for other regions in the future. “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 said. “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.”
• Currently, age verification on Xbox is optional, but will be required in 2026. If a user chooses not to verify their age, you will no longer be able to communicate with those outside of your friends list via voice and text chat.
• While its rivals, Nintendo and PlayStation, have yet to mention the legislation, it is likely that they too will implement similar checks or face the harsh penalties for failing to do so, such as losing 10% of their global revenue.
• The effectiveness of the law has already been questioned after several social media users discovered that the facial recognition software used by some sites is easy to trick. For example, X user “CanofSpriteMan” successfully verified a Discord account using Dave Bautista in WWE 2K25’s photo mode, which allows the player to open a wrestler’s mouth when the verification system requires it.

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• Xbox has unveiled its plans for Gamescom next month, confirming that Hollow Knight: Silksong will be playable for the first time.