2025 has been a tumultuous time for the video game industry. The Nintendo Switch 2 has launched amid concerns about rising hardware and software prices, Xbox is shifting toward a multiplatform approach, Sony has had to delay Marathon indefinitely so soon after un-launching Concord, and online storefronts like Steam are being pressured by payment processors into minimizing their once sizeable NSFW offerings. In the midst of all this, Grand Theft Auto 6 has been slowly releasing news on its way towards a 2026 launch date. While it’s just one game in the middle of this storm, a lot is still riding on Grand Theft Auto 6.
Rockstar Games’ next open-world AAA title is already assumed to be an industry-shaping megahit, with the only questions remaining being how big it will be and what form it will take. Grand Theft Auto, and its now-mainstay online multiplayer component, GTA Online, form one of the most popular video game franchises ever, with enough mainstream pull that industry analysts have predicted that GTA 6’s release will boost current generation console sales by a huge margin. Only time will tell if they’re right, but until then, another new wrinkle has cropped up to make GTA 6’s situation even more complicated.
In July 2025, the United Kingdom integrated the first Protection of Children Codes of Practice into its Online Safety Act 2023 framework, and its impact was felt almost immediately. Without going into too much detail, online services likely to be accessed by children need to implement measures that prevent minors from engaging with adult-oriented content. This is largely unrelated to the ongoing NSFW issues Steam and Itch.io are working through, but it is expected to affect gaming all the same, and one of the earliest out-of-the-box compliant games is rumored to be GTA 6.
Although Rockstar hasn’t confirmed anything, several leakers and anonymous sources have declared that Grand Theft Auto 6 will follow the Online Safety Act. It’s expected to have age verification measures at launch in the UK, which will then be revised as necessary and spread to other parts of the world. Features that could be restricted include photo-sharing, in-game chat, and possibly GTA Online‘s lobbies as a whole, which would cut out a significant portion of GTA 6. Unlocking multiplayer features would require some kind of age or identity verification, which then produces a personal security risk for adults, which is unfortunately the cost of the system existing.
How everything will work is subject to change, but the fact remains that a good chunk of younger players in the UK, and eventually the rest of the world, are set to be locked out of GTA 6 Online. Any minor with a copy of Grand Theft Auto 6 probably has the means to bypass security measures, like using the Death Stranding 2 Norman Reedus-face exploit some UK folk have discovered, but the number of kids encountered in GTA Online should be noticeably lower. It’s unfortunate for them, but there’s a silver lining.
Besides the inevitable infiltration of dedicated minors with access to the M-rated GTA 6 in the first place, the GTA Online community could be a better place with exclusively older players. Plenty of troublemakers will still be around, but the group that may theoretically be least capable of competently participating in role-play sessions, and other potential group activities like a new wave of GTA heists, will be cut out. If nothing else, more players should be spared the common lobby experience of hearing a kid scream directly into their microphone. Grand Theft Auto 6 is changing with the times, but at least some good can come from it.
May 26, 2026
Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)
May 26, 2026
