VRChat Inc has released a new blog post, sharing some of the studio’s plans and thought process behind new safety improvements that will be coming to VRChat.
To start with, VRChat will stop using Age Verification terminology and move towards Age Assurance. Essentially, this is a wider umbrella term that means VRChat can use different methods of confirming someone’s age. This is particularly important as the worldwide games industry (and the internet as a whole) is changing, and this is one way VRChat can improve while also addressing its community’s needs.
Starting in the United Kingdom, players will get a link to become age-assured. Players who are over 18 will be marked as Age Verified, which won’t change anything.
However, those under 18 will have any content that’s tagged as Sexually Suggestive blocked. Placeholders will replace this content. For now, that’s the only category that’s being gated.
For now, creators should make sure that their content is properly tagged before the changes begin rolling out. This content gating will come a bit after Age Assurance does, as VRChat wants to make sure everything works properly first.
When Age Assurance rolls out in the UK, it’ll be offered for free. However, this isn’t something VRChat can guarantee for every region. Once it’s rolled out in the UK and VRChat sees what it costs (and how well it works), then more information will be revealed for players in other regions.
These are changes that will be coming in the near future. VRChat Inc also expanded on what it’s trying to build for the future, including Age Assured Groups. There are also plans to address toxicity within the community, and more information on that will be shared in July.
VRChat players can check out the full blog post here, or watch the video for more details on the upcoming changes:
