3D life-simulation game Avakin Life has introduced age assurance technology from digital identity company Yoti. Players can now verify their age to unlock adult content that can only be seen by players who have confirmed their age.
If a player who wants to access the adult content is suspected to be underage, the technology will ask them to confirm their age before using Yati’s facial age estimation technology or by uploading an official identity document.
The platform adds that age estimations take around a second, while verification of a document takes less than 10 seconds after the document has been submitted. However, Lockwood Publishing, the creator of Avakin Life, prefer facial age estimation over other age assurance solutions due to its speed, accuracy, inclusion and ease of use.
Robin Tombs, CEO at Yoti said, “It’s great to see Lockwood Publishing taking a proactive approach to online age assurance. We’re delighted to help them verify the age of players on Avakin Life so that they can offer exclusive age-restricted features. With inclusive and effective age checks, platforms can create age-appropriate experiences and have different content for different age groups.”
Exclusive features
Upon confirming their age, players who are 18+ will unlock age-restricted features such as:
- Exclusive access to the Age-Verified Apartment feature which allows players to create Age-Verified rooms that are not available or visible to non-verified players.
- Age Verified Apartments will offer a less restrictive chat filter, so verified users can chat more freely.
- These users will also have a unique badge and profile background which displays their 18+ status.
“We wanted to introduce age verification to Avakin Life to offer our players more choice and freedom to express themselves, in a way that also safeguards our younger audience. The challenge was making this process as frictionless as possible and Yoti is a great fit,” said Claire Panter, Avakin Life’s director of player support. “Their age assurance technology, particularly age estimation, is fast and easy to use for players and we’ve integrated it into the game experience. It’s been fantastic to see such a positive response from the community.”
Unverified players will not have access to Age Verified spaces within the life simulation game, ensuring that players aged 18+ can interact and chat with other adult players while simultaneously enhancing the safety and player experience for younger audiences.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
