Hoyoverse, the developer of Genshin Impact, has officially announced a new policy: a mandatory age verification process for players in the US.
This measure responds to a legal requirement and will affect all users in the United States. The starting signal for this procedure will be May 20, 2025. From that date, both existing players upon logging in and those creating new accounts will be required to go through this process.
The reason behind this new policy is related to an agreement reached with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This agreement addresses the marketing of so-called “loot boxes” or “gacha” mechanics to users under the age of 16. As a result, Hoyoverse will no longer be able to sell these random items to this age group through its internal store.
It’s curious, since there is no widespread federal regulation on this issue in the US, but the FTC focused on Genshin Impact due to the perception of a potentially confusing purchasing system. Apparently, some players were investing large sums of money they consciously desired, thanks to an in-game currency system that wasn’t entirely transparent to everyone. What a mess!
Dates and direct consequences
The deadline to complete age verification is July 18, 2025. Those who have not complied with this requirement will face serious repercussions on their accounts:
The first direct consequence will be account suspension. Additionally, the in-game friends list and chat history will be deleted.
Another detail is that, once the account is suspended, the user will no longer receive notifications, since, as required by law, access to account information will be restricted.
But it doesn’t end there. Users who continue to fail to verify their age by July 20, 2026, will have their Hoyoverse account permanently deleted. This applies to Genshin Impact data and all information linked to the general Hoyoverse account. This includes posts, interactions in the Hoyolab community, and any other associated data.
While this news may cause some concern among the large and dedicated player base who fervently follow the story and character development, it is a direct result of the aforementioned settlement with the FTC. The company is therefore obligated to implement these measures.