New ESRB Move Requests Facial Recognition To Age Check Gamers

gameranx.com:

A new move is going on right now for the ESRB, which is seeking approval from the FTC. If approved, it could mean a new standard to check if a player is suitable to play a video game. This report comes from Gamesindustry.biz, and it seems that the ESRB wants a means to age-check a player through a photo. This method could be considered too invasive for players who like to keep private and wouldn’t want their faces connected to their personal gaming accounts.

According to the report, this move is still needing approval from the FTC to see if the ESRB can go through with this facial recognition technology. But if approved, then Yoti will be the firm that helps ensure the players are old enough to enjoy some of the video games being accessed by the individual. Essentially, there will be a system that will be able to check a photo submitted by the player to determine their age. It’s noted that these images are uploaded to Yoti but are not kept and deleted afterward.

However, we’re not entirely sure how some parents would feel having their child’s photo taken and submitted to play a video game. Meanwhile, this could further push parent involvement in determining what their child is capable of playing. On paper, it might read as a suitable means to ensure younger audiences are being protected by avoiding questionable content material. But again, this ESRB already lists out the rating of the video game for parents to view.

Likewise, this also goes to older gamers that simply would not feel comfortable submitting their photos to a company to confirm that they are old enough to play a specific video game. With all that said, this is nothing being rolled out right now. Instead, this is only a proposal by the ESRB as they seek