GTA Online has enjoyed a pretty stellar run since its introduction over a decade ago. Rockstar is still cleaning up on purchases made within the service, and it has an active, lively player base.
However, based on a report from The Sydney Morning Herald (via Rockstar Intel), things are going to be changing for millions of GTA Online users.
Australia is evidently rolling out new age verification laws, which will be enforced starting this week. In short, any game rated R18+ (Australia's ESRB-equivalent rating) will require age verification, as will any media featuring AI chatbots. Since Australia requires this for online games, GTA Online is caught in the crossfire.
In a pretty extreme move, companies will be fined $50 million (AU) or more if they don't comply, so Rockstar is already prepped for the change. Based on community data mining, the publisher has already crafted a "verify age" landing page that provides a QR code for age verification. In Australia, this crackdown also applies to other forms of mature-rated media, including films.
“Any platform that carries 18-plus content or adult content is required to use age assurance, and we leave that up to the businesses themselves that...
