After being leaked many months ago, age verification will be required for some GTA Online players next week. We previously reported on how Rockstar Games had built age purification systems into GTA Online. These were not enabled but had been created in preparation for regions rolling out mandatory age verification laws.
Unfortunately for some players, the time for age verification is about to start. According to PC Gamer via The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia have a new age verification law coming into effect on Monday, March 9th. This will also affect GTA 6’s online component when it comes out later this year.
The law requires online media with a R18+ classification or AI-powered chatbots and companions to require users to prove they are of age. Single-player games with the rating are not mandated to check for the gamer’s age. That’s according to the eSafety commissioner as part of Australia’s government.
If Rockstar fails to implement an age verification system or any sort of breach of the law, there could be penalties of up to AU$49.5 million per breach. Even with Rockstar’s many billions, they do not want to spend money on fines.
A Look At The Age Verification Menu
From last year’s datamining, you can see the main menu of GTA Online for PC with an age block above. Come Monday, GTA Online players in Australia will see this screen before being able to join a lobby. They will then have to verify their age. A QR code will appear on screen pointing players to ways they can verify their age on their mobile devices.
We should expect to see age verification roll out to more regions over the coming months. Laws in some countries will go into effect meaning Rockstar will have to comply.
We learned this week that over 20 million people played GTA Online in January making it the second most played game. Lots of people won’t want to stop playing and will verify their age. It will be interesting to see if there will be any impact on player counts though.
How do you feel about Rockstar adding age verification to GTA Online? Let us know down in the comments section below.
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