Xbox store now requires age verification for R18+ purchases in Australia

Microsoft has started rolling out mandatory age verification for R18+ game purchases on the Xbox and Microsoft Store in Australia, with the change taking effect from August 2026. The company confirmed the requirement via emails sent to Australian users over the weekend.

To verify your age, Microsoft offers several options: email-based verification, a facial age estimation check via a "secure selfie", a credit card, or a government-issued ID such as a driver's license or passport. The verification itself is handled by VerifyMy, a London-based tech company. The requirement covers both Xbox console and PC game purchases made through the Microsoft Store.

The move comes as Australia and the UK both introduced new age verification laws in early 2026, with 25 US states following suit as well. But not every platform is rushing to comply — Steam hasn't implemented stricter age checks in Australia, and neither has PlayStation. The broader push for age verification has drawn serious scrutiny this year. Security researchers in February claimed that Persona, one of the most widely used verification providers — used by Roblox, Twitch, VRChat, and trialed by Discord in the UK — had lax information security practices and collected more data than strictly necessary for age checks. A separate 2025 Discord data breach exposed 70,000 government photo IDs, underlining just how badly this kind of data can go wrong. Critics argue that age verification mandates, framed as child protection measures, risk becoming a broader surveillance infrastructure.

For now, Australian Xbox users who want to buy adult-rated games will need to go through the verification process. Whether Steam and PlayStation eventually follow Microsoft's lead remains to be seen, but the regulatory pressure across multiple regions suggests the industry-wide reckoning with age verification is only getting started.