Gaming starts to feel the sting of age verification legislation

Is a skin flick still a skin flick if the skin is made of pixels? The question twists not only tongues, but also legal interpretations of U.S. age verification law. Demonstrating exactly the sort of scope creep feared by privacy advocates, Florida is attempting to shut down two sites that offer adult-themed video games.

Nutaku, which hosts pornographic games, and Lusty Heroes, which is one you can play in your browser, are the targets of dual lawsuits from Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier, filed in Florida’s 12th Judicial Circuit.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the suit targeting Nutaku went to owner Aylo, which also owns massive porn streaming site Pornhub. The Lusty Heroes suit went to its Cypress-based distributor, Gethins Limited.

Uthmeier alleges that the websites violate state law HB 3, requiring websites to verify that Florida users are at least 18.

Aylo says its products, including Nutaku and SpiceVids, comply with the age verification requirements. In a statement, the company says it intends to “vigorously defend against these allegations in court.”

“These platforms are committed to ongoing compliance with applicable state laws. We look forward to presenting the facts through the appropriate legal process.”

Uthmeier has also filed suit against popular porn streaming site XVideos for noncompliance, in keeping with a global crackdown on online pornography. But the impact of age assurance laws on the gaming industry has been the subject of some controversy. Fearing noncompliance, gaming platforms like Steam and Itch have removed certain games – some centered on LGBTQ content. There has also been pressure from payment processors, which creators say is leading to censorship.

Many believe age assurance and online safety laws are a gateway to a larger assault on LGBTQ rights. Uthmeier has done his best to support the claim; recently, for instance, he subpoenaed records of a Vero Beach restaurant after it held an all-ages LGBTQ Pride event, and opened an investigation into Vice Mayor Linda Moore, who hosted the event.

Twitch using facial age estimation from k-ID

Massive streaming platform Twitch has rolled out facial age estimation (FAE) tech for UK users. According to documentation on its website, Twitch has enlisted k-ID as a partner to provide FAE through a video selfie.

While k-ID’s services have been praised as top solutions for the gaming industry, the company has often defined itself in terms of compliance, and has not typically provided its own biometric tech. It recently announced a partnership with ConnectID in Australia, which enabled a system that combines parental verification with automated content controls.

However, it appears to now offer its own facial age estimation tool. Per its website, the model can “determine if an adult is actually an adult with a mean accuracy of 1.1 year of estimated age versus the real age, and 100 percent accuracy for adults over the age of 25.” It is certified by UKAS.

Twitch emphasizes the privacy-preserving nature of k-ID’s tool. “To protect your privacy, Twitch and k-ID (a third-party vendor we partner with to verify your age) do not store your face scan video selfies. The video selfie used for facial age estimation is analyzed entirely on your device and will never leave it.”

World ID used to ensure bots don’t hijack ‘human only tournaments’

It has been noted that, as porn and social media face age restrictions, gaming – where kids spend most of their time – has flown under the radar. That is beginning to change, as platforms modernize for compliance.

The gaming community has not been uniformly opposed to age verification measures, with some players welcoming them as an antidote to rampant cheating. Wired has an article looking at the intersection of age verification laws and the deepfake crisis.

And PC Gamer has an article about World, the iris biometrics for proof of personhood (PoP) firm, and how it has set its eye on the gaming world. The firm has already partnered with Razer to use its World ID as a verification token.

Tiago Sada, Chief Product Officer at Tools for Humanity – something like World’s corporate familiar – explains: “The way this works is Razer has this Razer ID, so you can use your World ID to verify your Razer ID. So you basically get that blue check mark on your Razer ID. And then any game that already integrates Razer ID is able to use that signal to give you different things in the game, right? So some games are doing that for running human-only tournaments. Some games are doing that to have human-only items. Some games are running human-only servers. Some games use it for banning known bad players.”

Article Topics

age verification  |  Aylo  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  facial age estimation (FAE)  |  gaming  |  k-ID  |  legislation  |  World ID