Starting on September 9, Epic Games will introduce a mandatory age‑verification step for Australian users who wish to purchase or download games that carry an R18+ rating on the Epic Games Store. This new requirement is designed to ensure that only individuals who are legally recognized as adults can access content that is classified as suitable for mature audiences. The policy aligns the store’s practices with Australia’s online safety code, which mandates strict controls over the distribution of adult‑oriented material.
Under the updated system, players who are already owners of R18+ titles will not be required to re‑verify their age, nor will any games that carry a rating below R18+ be subject to the new checks. The focus is strictly on preventing new acquisitions of adult‑rated content by minors. To accomplish this, Epic will leverage its pre‑existing Kids Web Services (KWS) infrastructure, which has been adapted to incorporate a suite of third‑party verification tools.
These tools give users a choice of how they wish to prove they are at least 18 years old. The first verification option is a selfie‑based identity check provided by Yoti, a service that uses facial recognition technology to match a live photo against a government‑issued ID. The second alternative allows users to confirm their age through a credit‑card verification process powered by Stripe, which validates the cardholder’s age based on the information held by the issuing bank. The third method involves a direct document verification through Veriff, a platform that examines scanned copies of official identification such as passports or driver’s licences to confirm the holder’s date of birth.
Epic has announced that a fourth verification pathway, which will rely on bank‑account verification via ConnectID, is slated to become available later in September. This addition will broaden the range of options and cater to users who may prefer a banking‑based approach over the other methods. In a statement, Epic emphasized that any personal data collected through these verification channels will be used solely for the purpose of confirming a user’s age. The company clarified that this information will be processed independently of the broader Kids Web Services ecosystem, thereby limiting exposure and ensuring that the data is not repurposed for other uses.
Epic’s move mirrors similar steps taken by other major platform operators in the region. Just a month prior, Microsoft rolled out an age‑verification requirement for its Xbox and Microsoft Store platforms in Australia. Australian gamers now have to confirm they are of legal age before they can purchase or play R18+ titles on both console and PC versions of the store.
Microsoft’s initiative was part of a broader compliance effort that also saw the company introduce comparable age‑checks in the United Kingdom in July 2025, shortly after the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) came into effect. Valve, the company behind Steam, has also implemented age‑verification mechanisms for its UK users. The Steam platform now requires users to verify their age before they can access mature‑content sections, ensuring that the platform meets the same regulatory expectations set by the OSA. The introduction of these verification systems reflects a growing trend among digital distribution platforms to adhere to stricter governmental regulations concerning adult content.
While some players have expressed concerns about privacy and the handling of personal information, companies like Epic, Microsoft, and Valve have all pledged to keep the verification process as secure and limited in scope as possible. They argue that the benefits of protecting younger audiences from exposure to potentially harmful material outweigh the inconvenience of an additional verification step. From a technical perspective, integrating third‑party verification services into an existing ecosystem such as KWS presents both challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, leveraging established providers like Yoti, Stripe, Veriff, and ConnectID reduces the need for Epic to develop its own proprietary age‑checking algorithms from scratch, thereby accelerating deployment.
On the other hand, ensuring seamless user experience across multiple verification pathways requires careful coordination to avoid bottlenecks, especially during peak purchasing periods such as holiday sales or major game releases. For developers and publishers, the new policy may influence how they label and market their games on the Epic platform.
Titles that hover near the R18+ threshold might be reconsidered for re‑rating to avoid the additional friction for consumers. Conversely, the clear delineation could also provide a marketing advantage for games that specifically target adult audiences, as the verification process guarantees that the intended demographic will be the only one able to purchase the product.
In summary, Epic Games’ decision to enforce age verification for R18+ games in Australia represents a significant step toward compliance with national online safety standards. By offering multiple verification options—selfie verification via Yoti, credit‑card confirmation through Stripe, document verification with Veriff, and an upcoming bank‑verification method via ConnectID—the company aims to balance regulatory obligations with user convenience and data privacy.
This development aligns Epic with other industry leaders who have already adopted similar measures, underscoring a broader shift toward more responsible content distribution in the gaming sector.