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Epic Games announced today that it is launching a new feature called “Cabined Accounts”. These will be restricted accounts designed with child safety in mind, the company says. The feature is rolling out today in Fortnite, Rocket League, and Fall Guys. Epic also references these kid-friendly accounts used in the metaverse.
Cabined accounts on the Epic Games Store are similar to regular accounts, but with certain features disabled. If a player indicates their age is under 13 or their country’s digital consent age when registering, their account will be blocked by default. They must provide the email address of a trusted adult, where Epic will request parental consent. Cabined accounts have chat and purchases disabled. Parents must give permission to the child using the account before they can access anything other than the three games mentioned above.
Epic specifically says in his announcement that it doesn’t want secret accounts to feel restricted, especially since it motivates kids to lie about their age. It adds: “Another approach was to give younger players a great experience, but if kids don’t get parental consent, they’re completely left out with no alternatives. Neither is optimal.”
While it doesn’t go into much detail about this in the blog post, Epic notes that this is in part to keep kids safe within the burgeoning metaverse. Earlier this year, Epic previously teamed up with Lego to create a safe space in the metaverse for kids to create. In 2020, it acquired SuperAwesome, an online privacy and security platform. It offers SuperAwesome parental controls to all developers, and closeted accounts work through the verification system.
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