If a prominent leaker’s latest report proves accurate, another big game is about to get gated by an age verification process. This time, the hammer will fall onGrand Theft Auto Online, which is - needless to say - one of the most consistently profitable video games on the planet.
Should GTA Online soon require age verification, it will join a growing list of titles and services in blocking prospective players and users from access to newly-regulated content unless they’re willing to provide personal identity information. The issue has quickly become a major matterespecially in the UK, courtesy of thenot-so-greatOnline Safety Act.
The Near Future
On Twitter, prominent leaker Tez2 has broken the (alleged) news that Rockstar will be bringing “age assurance checks” to Grand Theft Auto Online “in the near future”. Tez2 also mentions that the company will be “rolling them out by region”. In other words, this might not just be the UK.
No offense to everybody in the UK - you’re having a rough go of it andneeding the help of Sam Porter Bridgesjust to access Discord without giving corporations your data - but yeah, the first impulse that a lot of folks from other countries are going to have is that this surely won’t affectthem, too.
As the tweet explains, it may be that only specific elements of GTA Online will be unavailable without verification. The game sports robust social features modeled in large part on stuff that’s included in the single-player (read:Grand Theft Auto 5) component of Rockstar’s monumental franchise. Tez2 suggests “phone messages, text chat, [and] Snapmatic” as possible problem areas.
One thing’s for sure. If Rockstar is setting this up while GTA 5 is still their studio centerpiece, Grand Theft Auto 6 isprobablygoing to face similar restrictions.
