While the purpose of age-rating a video game is a very noble one, it's hardly something that is enforced well, especially in this day and age. Retail game stores used to be able to check your age before allowing you to purchase a physical game, but in the world of digital and with services like Amazon in mind, there are a plethora of ways to circumvent this system.
The rating board, the ESRB, has now proposed a new technology to the US' Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with this being a facial recognition system that determines a user's age.
It's said that the system will see the user take a photo of themselves, then the system checks if there is a live human present, all before uploading the image to Yoti's (a digital identity firm who is collaborating on the technology) for age estimation.
As per Gamesindustry.biz, it's mentioned that once an image has been age-rated, it is instantly and permanently deleted, and not used for any purpose beyond this.
There's no time frame on when this system could be introduced, if it is greenlit, but it will no doubt look to throw a few spanners into the works of the young teenage Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty player base.
