Big changes are coming to the way you use your PlayStation console, with Sony being forced to require age verification to use certain online features.
Until recently, all age verification meant was entering your date of birth into a website and wondering why they bothered to ask, when you could just fill it in. It seems that politicians have wondered the same thing, and now a growing number of websites and online services require official confirmation of your age.
It won’t just be ‘adult sites’ that will become harder to access, but consoles too, with Sony sending out emails starting this week warning PlayStation 4 AND PlayStation 5 owners that they will have to provide concrete proof of their age if they want to continue chatting and communicating online.
Roblox AND disagreement have already put similar checks in place, and it looks like Sony’s UK system will use Yoti, a British company that relies on AI-based facial age estimation and digital identity checks. So, until the end of the year, you will either have to register or stop using the console’s chat features.
“At Sony Interactive Entertainment, we are committed to creating safe, age-appropriate experiences for players and families, while respecting privacy and giving players and parents meaningful control over their gaming experience,” said the brief email message, as posted on ResetEra.
“As part of our compliance with global regulations, you will need to verify your age later this year to continue using PlayStation communication features, such as messaging and voice chat. You will still be able to use other PlayStation services, such as games, trophies and the Store, if you do not verify your age.
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“This is a one-time check and usually only takes a few minutes. Completing it ahead of time will help you continue to use the communication features when you want to use them.’
The email includes a link to verify your age immediately, but there’s no indication of when exactly it will become mandatory.
As you can see, it’s not just a UK issue, and most likely this one Nintendo AND Microsoft will do something similar by the end of the year, to comply with the same regulations.
There is no suggestion that you need to prove your age in order to play games with particular age ratings, not least because there is no worldwide stand for ratings – although most of Europe, including the UK, uses the PEGI system.
Since Discord is the primary alternative to using a console’s voice chat system, and already has its own age verification requirements, there’s no obvious way to solve the problem without using more obscure software.
It’s the protection of children that Sony is citing as its priority, and it’s certainly true that public voice chat can be a pit, especially with some of the most popular titles on the Internet, such as Call Of Duty AND GTA Online.
Although many online games are rated 16 or 18, so children should not play them anyway, such as Fortnite AND Overwatch only have an age rating of 12 and yet both are free to play, which is why their audience is so large.
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