Epic Games have announced the roll out of a new child safety system aimed at protecting younger players while not simultaneously excluding them from playing the games they love.
Under the new system, players under the age of 13 (or their country’s age of digital consent, whichever is higher) will be placed into what Epic is referring to as a ‘Cabined Account’ – a gamer account where certain functionality is disabled, such as text chat, voice chat, and purchasing.
To restore full or part account functionality, parents/guardians will need follow a process outlined in an email. Through this they can both provide their consent and set up their preferred Parental Controls. For this to happen parents/guardians will need to verify they are an adult using SuperAwesome’s Kids Web Services.
Players receiving parental consent will no longer have a Cabined Account. After that their gaming experience will reflect the Parental Control settings set by their parent or guardian.
The new system works with the Epic Games launcher and Unreal Engine. And while it is only currently being rolled out to three games (Fortnite, Rocket League or Fall Guys), if successful it is reasonable to expect it will become a wider feature going forward.