This latest Xbox Insider update is confirming that adults in the UK will start seeing prompts to verify their age when they sign into their console, and this will likely keep extending to more and more people as we approach the new year.
"Please be aware this Xbox Update Preview includes the following experience or feature updates.
Sign In: Adult users located in the United Kingdom will see a new prompt during sign in to verify their age."
Beyond this, the update is also adding some interesting new features to Xbox Game Hubs. These are the information screens you see when loading up a game on Xbox, and they've received mixed feedback since they were implemented.
These hubs will now feature news about Official Clubs along with any Game Pass Perks that are available for the titles.
"Game Hubs will now contain a section showing the latest news from Official Clubs for games that have them, along with a second section featuring any in-game Game Pass perks associated with the game. These will show alongside existing information like Game Stats and Add-ons."
Don't be surprised if the Game Hub improvements start making their way to console near you very soon, but the age verification thing is seemingly being held back until early 2026 - obviously unless you're part of the Insider program.
For what it's worth, it doesn't seem like you have to complete the age verification check if you really don't want to, but Microsoft says your "use of social features on Xbox will become limited to friends only" in that case.
We'll leave you with one of the statements they shared when this was first announced in July:
"Whether a player verifies their age will not affect any previous purchases, entitlements, gameplay history, achievements, or the ability to play and purchase games, however we encourage players to verify their age via this one-time process now to ensure uninterrupted use of social features on Xbox in the future."
