Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse (previously known as miHoYo) announced that United States players will have to verify their age soon to continue playing the game. Here's the brief message shared with the community:
Dear Travelers，
We are required by law to age verify US player accounts. The age verification process will be rolled out to all US players by May 20th while login (if already have one) or account registration.
Please ensure to provide your age information by July 18th, 2025. Failure to verify will result in:
- Account suspension
- In-game friends and chat records will be deleted
- No further notifications post-suspension due to inaccessible account information as required by law
If the verification is not completed by July 20th, 2026, the personal information of your HoYoverse account will be deleted permanently.
This appears to be a direct consequence of a recent settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which had charged HoYoverse with deceiving minors into spending for their loot boxes. The Chinese developer was subsequently banned from selling them to users under 16 without a parent's express consent, paid a $20 million fine to the FTC, and was also subject to the following stipulations:
- Prohibited from selling loot boxes using virtual currency without providing an option for consumers to purchase them directly with real money;
- Prohibited from misrepresenting loot box odds, prices and features;
- Required to disclose loot box odds and exchange rates for multi-tiered virtual currency;
- Required to delete any personal information previously collected from children under 13 unless they obtain parental consent to retain such data; and
- Required to comply with COPPA, including its notice and consent requirements.
Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said at the time:
Genshin Impact deceived children, teens, and other players into spending hundreds of dollars on prizes they stood little chance of winning. Companies that deploy these dark-pattern tactics will be held accountable if they deceive players, particularly kids and teens, about the true costs of in-game transactions.
The popular free-to-play action RPG is being updated today to patch 5.6. Dubbed 'Paralogism', it features two new characters, the five-star support character Escoffier and the four-star DPS character Ifa. There is also a new Archon Quest, a new Story Quest, and a new Boss fight, among other additions to Genshin Impact.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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