VRChat is stepping up its game by introducing age verification for its adult users who are part of the paid subscription plan.
Back in November, VRChat laid out its roadmap to collaborate with an organization called Persona. The plan involves using Persona to verify users’ ages through government IDs, along with a phone or computer camera. This verification is intended to limit access to certain areas created with the “Age Verification” option but isn’t necessary for enjoying VRChat as a whole.
Now, this age verification feature is officially available to VRC+ subscribers, accompanied by a detailed Q&A on how it works:
“The age verification process leverages Persona to cross-check your government-issued ID with your likeness. While VRChat acquires and processes text extracted from your ID, it does not receive any images or facial scans. This process creates an irreversible hash that is stored securely. All other extracted text, apart from your birth date, is deleted and never stored on our servers.”
Here’s a throwback to the original announcement video:
In a video from last year, VRChat’s Senior Community Manager, Strasz, elaborated on the initiative: “We’re teaming up with select event organizers to pilot age-verified events. During this trial, only participants from these chosen groups will qualify for age verification, and only they can limit instance access to verified individuals. We’re starting small to iron out any issues.”
The creators who have access to the ‘Group Instance’ feature can opt to restrict it to age-verified users. For instance, a virtual bar may want to limit entry to users 18 and over, necessitating all attendees to complete the Age Verification process. Once a user is verified (provided they meet the age criteria), they will have unrestricted entry to any future Age Verification Instances.
Users can also choose to display a “Verified 18+” badge on their VRChat profile to signify their age verification.
VRChat shared, “We believe that offering age verification as an option will empower our communities and users to customize their experiences and foster a robust, safer platform.”
Originally, this article was published on November 29, 2024, with the announcement and initial testing of VRChat’s age verification system. It has since been updated to reflect the feature’s roll-out to VRChat+ subscribers, occurring two months later.
