GTA Online adding age verification before GTA 6 in “near future,” reveals Rockstar insider

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about GTA 6 Online. Take-Two Interactive patents support rumors about a massive player count increase for lobbies and leaks also suggest it will be the “next UGC platform” like Fortnite and Roblox. However, in less exciting news, GTA 5 and GTA 6 Online may require age verification to play as a Rockstar insider has revealed the studio is “planning to implement age assurance checks in the near future”.

GTA Online adding age verification before GTA 6

According to trusted leaker, Tez2, “Rockstar is planning to implement age assurance checks in the near future”. The leaker said that Rockstar is “rolling them out by region,” and that “You may need to verify your age to access GTA Online, or certain features, like phone messages, text chat, Snapmatic, may be restricted until you verify your age”.

This would come into effect immediately for GTA Online and presumably carry over to the Online component for GTA 6. Regarding whether it would be for the UK only, Tez2 said, “They [Rockstar] have the ability to target specific regions. Which regions? No idea, but the UK will definitely be the first”.

If you live in the UK, you have surely noticed massive changes to the internet thanks to the Online Safety Act that has just come into motion. While a lot of noise has been about age verification needed for adult websites, Reddit, X, and even Spotify, it does impact video games too as Microsoft has implemented age verification checks for the Xbox.

There is a lot of understandable trepidation and anger over the Online Safety Act, with people finding obvious ways to bypass verification along with more creative solutions such as using Norman Reedus’ face from Death Stranding 2.

There’s no elaboration as to how GTA players will need to verify their age and identity, but Tez2 shows a screenshot showing the implementation of age assurance in-development. It seems to be coming to GTA Online very soon, so it shouldn’t take too long to see what is happening and the ramifications for when GTA 6 comes out next year.

In other GTA 6 news, a leaker claims “60fps is happening” while also teasing a post-launch “custom music mode”.

About the Author

Callum Smith

Callum Smith is a freelance gaming writer for Videogamer. He covers news for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, and he has over five years experience covering the video games industry.

Grand Theft Auto 6

• Platform(s): PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series X
• Genre(s): Action, Action Adventure