TheRetroArcade
Veteran
Posts: 1,975
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
The age assurance future is coming for games.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Australians attempting to access online games with an R18+ classification will soon need to prove their age, and if publishers don't comply they could face fines of nearly AU$50 million. The change applies to online games only—in other words, singleplayer, offline games with an R18+ rating, like Doom Eternal, don't need to worry—but it will affect GTA Online.
The new requirement, which comes in effect on Monday, will also affect pornography and "explicit" AI chatbots, according to SMH.
Age assurance technology takes a lot of forms. In Australia, where a social media ban has been imposed for children under 16, YouTube requires credit card details or a copy of a valid government ID to determine age. Instagram uses "facial age estimation technology" based on video footage uploaded by the user, as does TikTok, and both also accept government ID.
Overall, the method has to be much stronger than the simple self-declaration box we're all used to plugging a random DOB into.
Australia is at the forefront of this not-so-brave age verification future, and while few would argue that under 18s should have access to explicit adult material, there's certainly room to question it on the level of privacy and information security: surrendering ever more private information to third-party age verification companies doesn't sit well with everyone.
Take Roblox, for example, which Australia is keeping a eye on at the moment. It uses Persona, an online identity verification company whose lead investor is a venture fund co-founded by Peter Thiel, also co-founder of ICE-friendly Palantir. Last month it emerged that Discord was testing the software, but after much outrage it severed its ties. Earlier this week, scientists warned of the risks posed by poorly conceived age verification systems.
I've reached out to eSafety to learn more about its consultation with major publishers, including Rockstar, who I've also reached out to for comment.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said to SMH that platforms need to have "accurate, robust, fair and reliable" age assurance methods. “We don’t allow children to walk into bars or bottle shops, adult stores or casinos, but when it comes to online spaces where they are spend...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Australians attempting to access online games with an R18+ classification will soon need to prove their age, and if publishers don't comply they could face fines of nearly AU$50 million. The change applies to online games only—in other words, singleplayer, offline games with an R18+ rating, like Doom Eternal, don't need to worry—but it will affect GTA Online.
The new requirement, which comes in effect on Monday, will also affect pornography and "explicit" AI chatbots, according to SMH.
Age assurance technology takes a lot of forms. In Australia, where a social media ban has been imposed for children under 16, YouTube requires credit card details or a copy of a valid government ID to determine age. Instagram uses "facial age estimation technology" based on video footage uploaded by the user, as does TikTok, and both also accept government ID.
Overall, the method has to be much stronger than the simple self-declaration box we're all used to plugging a random DOB into.
Australia is at the forefront of this not-so-brave age verification future, and while few would argue that under 18s should have access to explicit adult material, there's certainly room to question it on the level of privacy and information security: surrendering ever more private information to third-party age verification companies doesn't sit well with everyone.
Take Roblox, for example, which Australia is keeping a eye on at the moment. It uses Persona, an online identity verification company whose lead investor is a venture fund co-founded by Peter Thiel, also co-founder of ICE-friendly Palantir. Last month it emerged that Discord was testing the software, but after much outrage it severed its ties. Earlier this week, scientists warned of the risks posed by poorly conceived age verification systems.
I've reached out to eSafety to learn more about its consultation with major publishers, including Rockstar, who I've also reached out to for comment.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said to SMH that platforms need to have "accurate, robust, fair and reliable" age assurance methods. “We don’t allow children to walk into bars or bottle shops, adult stores or casinos, but when it comes to online spaces where they are spend...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?