Discord now guesses the age of every user outside the UK and Australia. It says 9 in 10 will never be asked for proof.

The stories

16 on this beat today.

Every story told the same way: what happened, who is involved, why it matters, how it works, the truth and the good news.

1. 01

   Discord now guesses the age of every user outside the UK and Australia. It says 9 in 10 will never be asked for proof.

   90%+

   of Discord users will never be asked to prove their age

   Discord's own estimate; the guess comes from account history instead [1][3]

   70,000

   users' government IDs stolen from a Discord supplier in 2025

   Discord says that supplier's process is now fully retired [1]

   5

   new ways to prove age that need no face scan or ID

   credit card, Apple's App Store, Google Play, Google Wallet and AgeKey [2][3]

   What happened

   • Discord, the chat app many players use while they play, began switching on age checks for users worldwide on 23 September.
   • It says reaching every account will take a few days. [1]
   • The UK and Australia already had age checks.
   • The new system covers every other country. [2][4]
   • Discord guesses each account's age group from signals: how old the account is, how active it is, and which servers and games it is connected to. [1][2]
   • Discord says the guess does not read messages, calls or anything users post. [1][4]
   • Every account goes into one of three groups: adult (18 and over), teen (13 to 17), or unconfirmed. [4]
   • Teens get safety settings by default.
   • Sensitive images are blurred or blocked, message requests from strangers go to a separate inbox, and age-restricted servers are closed to them. [1]
   • Discord expects more than 90% of users will never be asked to prove their age. [1][3]
   • Adults put in the wrong group can prove their age with a credit card, Apple's or Google's app store, Google Wallet, or AgeKey, a proof saved on their own device. [1][2]
   • Discord says the checking companies must delete what a user uploads as soon as the age group is known. [1]
   • Discord's February plan offered only a face scan or an ID.
   • Users objected, partly because hackers had stolen 70,000 users' IDs from a Discord supplier in 2025. [1]
   • Discord's co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy wrote that a worldwide method without face scans puts Discord ahead of laws that might demand something less private. [3][4]
   • Discord has already had to add checks in Texas, after a court order in July, and in Brazil. [1]

   10 of 100

   users Discord expects to ask for proof, at most

   Who is involved

   • Discord a chat app built around group servers, widely used by players; it switched on age checks worldwide this week
   • Stanislav Vishnevskiy Discord's co-founder and chief technology officer; he wrote the announcement
   • k-ID an age-check company; it sends card checks to the payments firm Stripe and runs AgeKey
   • Ken Paxton the attorney general of Texas; he won a court order in July making Discord use its UK-style checks there

   How it unfolded

   1. 2025 Hackers steal 70,000 users' IDs from a Discord age-check supplier [1]
   2. Feb 2026 Discord announces checks by face scan or ID, then pauses them after users object [1][2]
   3. July A Texas court orders Discord to use its UK-style checks for Texas users [1]
   4. 22 Sep Vishnevskiy sets out the new plan [1]
   5. 23 Sep The worldwide rollout begins [1][2]

   Why it matters

   Watch whether Texas, Brazil and the European Union accept Discord's guess-first method, or still order a face scan or ID for everyone. [1][6]

   The truth

   • What is really going on Discord switched on age checks worldwide this week before most laws make it, and its co-founder says the aim is to get ahead of laws that could demand face scans.
   • Why it works on people Discord asks to be judged on the data it chooses to publish, which lets the company pick the measure it will be held to. [4]
   • Who gains Discord — It chose its own checking companies and methods before a law chose them for it. [1][3]
   • Who gains k-ID, an age-check company — It handles Discord's card checks through the payments firm Stripe, and runs AgeKey, one of the new ways to prove age. [1]
   • Who pays Adult Discord users placed in the teen group — They lose access to age-restricted servers until they prove their age with one of the listed methods. [1][4]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How often Discord's age guess is wrong.

     Discord says its accuracy is on a par with face scans, but has published no error rate for the worldwide system. [2] Its first figures cover only the UK and Australia. [4]

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether lawmakers will accept a guess instead of a document.

     A Texas court ordered Discord in July to use its stricter UK-style checks there. [1] A draft European Union law would require age checks for online games, and its final wording is not settled. [6]

   Good news

   • Discord users who have to prove their age can now use a credit card, an app store or a proof saved on their own device, instead of a face scan or an ID. The companies doing the checks must delete what users upload once the age group is set.

1. 02

   Age of Empires team loses almost half its staff

   What happened

   • World's Edge, the Microsoft team that looks after the Age of Empires strategy games, moved under Activision this week. [7]
   • Its creative director, Adam Isgreen, wrote that he and many colleagues were among the 268 people Xbox cut. [7]
   • A verified creative director at the studio posted that just under half of all staff were let go. [7]
   • Senior engineer Andrew Martz wrote that the team's next project was shelved because of the move. [7]

   Why it matters

   World's Edge mostly steers the series, while outside studios such as Relic built recent games with it. [7]

   The series now sits with the Call of Duty publisher, run by a much smaller team, and the shelved project has not been named. [7]

   How it works

   Why a studio shrinks on the day it changes hands

   When a studio gets a new owner, even its own staff, the new owner decides how many people its money can pay, and that number is often smaller.

   The twist

   Nothing about a game has to change for the jobs on it to go. What changes is whose money pays the wages, and how much of it there is.

   The picture

   Before: Microsoft pays wages

   ↓→

   After: the studio pays

   ↓→

   Jobs gone the same dayup to 40

   Step by step

   1. 1 A studio's size was set by what its old owner paid for
   2. 2 A sale or a split hands it a new owner, sometimes its own staff
   3. 3 The new owner sets a budget from its own money and plans
   4. 4 Projects that do not fit the new plan stop
   5. 5 People on those projects, or beyond what the money covers, are let go

   The same force, elsewhere today

   Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

   • State of Decay studio cuts up to 40 on its first day alone

     The studio's own money now pays every wage, and on the day that began it let up to 40 people go.

   • Age of Empires team loses almost half its staff

     Under a new boss at Activision, the team's next project was shelved and just under half the staff went with it.

   • EA staff told Saudi owners won't make creative calls

     EA's new owners carry $18 billion of debt, and EA promised lenders $170 million of cost cuts that staff have not yet been told about.

   Where you've seen this

   Newspapers bought with borrowed money

   the new owner cuts the newsroom to pay the loan back

   Football clubs after a takeover

   the new owner sets the wage bill, and players who do not fit it are sold

   A factory split off from a big company

   the new firm pays its own bills and often starts by closing a line

   The catch

   It does not always shrink. Bethesda told Obsidian its leaders and plans stay the same, and an owner with more money than the old one can hire instead.

   And the whole of it

   The developers let go at Undead Labs and World's Edge did not choose their new owners, and the players waiting for those games did not either. The workers see a lost job, and the players see a release date that has not moved. Neither group sees the budget that decided both.

   The truth

   • What is really going on At Xbox, the studios Microsoft moved or let go kept losing people: almost half of the Age of Empires team, and up to 40 at Undead Labs.
   • Who gains Activision — It now runs the Age of Empires series, with a team about half the size it had under Xbox. [7]
   • Who pays World's Edge staff — Just under half were let go as the team moved to Activision, and their next project was shelved. [7]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How many people World's Edge lost, and what the shelved project was.

     The figure of just under half comes from one forum post by a verified creative director. [7] Neither Xbox nor Activision has given a number or named the project. [7]

1. 03

   State of Decay studio cuts up to 40 on its first day alone

   What happened

   • Undead Labs, the studio behind the zombie game State of Decay, left Microsoft on 22 September and became owned by its own staff. [8]
   • The same day it said it was saying goodbye to a significant number of colleagues. [8]
   • One source told Kotaku up to 40 developers were affected. [8]
   • Studios Xbox let go left with their games, their rights and some money to run on. [8]
   • Undead Labs was one of five studios Xbox said it would let go, along with Double Fine and Ninja Theory. [22]

   Why it matters

   The staff now own the studio, but fewer of them work there.

   Studio head Philip Holt said State of Decay 3 stays on schedule, and its new publisher has not been named. [8]

   How it works

   The studio's own money now pays every wage, and on the day that began it let up to 40 people go.

   The idea, in story 02: Why a studio shrinks on the day it changes hands →

   The truth

   • Who pays Undead Labs developers — Up to 40 lost their jobs on the day the studio became independent. [8]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How many developers Undead Labs let go, and who will publish State of Decay 3.

     The studio said only a significant number. One source told Kotaku up to 40, and the new publisher has not been named. [8]

2. 04

   Gears of War's story director laid off before launch

   What happened

   • Juan Vaca, story director on Gears of War: E-Day, said on LinkedIn he had been laid off in Xbox's latest cuts. [10]
   • Five days earlier he had celebrated the game going gold, meaning it is finished and ready to be printed on discs. [10]
   • He spent more than four years at The Coalition, the Xbox studio making it. [9]
   • A Kotaku source says fewer than a handful of Coalition staff went, for reasons said to be separate from the wider cuts. [10]

   Why it matters

   The cuts reached a team two weeks before its game comes out on 6 October. [10]

   How many people The Coalition lost is not public. [10]

   The truth

   • Nobody knows yet

     How many people The Coalition lost two weeks before Gears of War: E-Day comes out.

     A Kotaku source says fewer than a handful, and Xbox has not said. [10]

3. 05

   Bethesda tells Obsidian it keeps its leaders

   What happened

   • Obsidian, the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds and Avowed, now reports to Bethesda, the Microsoft publisher that owns the Fallout series. [11][12]
   • In a memo seen by IGN, Bethesda head Jill Braff called it mainly a change in who reports to whom. [11]
   • She said Obsidian's own leaders stay in charge and no team's plans are being reset. [11]
   • Bethesda Game Studios will keep leading Fallout, while Obsidian works on a new Fallout project. [11]

   Why it matters

   Some had worried Obsidian would become a helper studio for Fallout, IGN says. [11]

   The memo answers that in words, and no release window has been given for Obsidian's Fallout game. [11]

   The truth

   • Who gains Bethesda Game Studios — It keeps the lead on Fallout, while Obsidian's new Fallout project now reports into Bethesda. [11]
4. 06

   Analysts say Xbox is being folded into what it bought

   What happened

   • Joost van Dreunen, a professor at New York University's business school, called Xbox's changes a reverse acquisition in slow motion. [13]
   • He means the publishers Microsoft paid a fortune for, such as Activision, are now taking over studios Xbox built itself. [13]
   • Newzoo, a research firm, says grouping studios by type of game stops Microsoft's games competing for the same players. [13]
   • Its data shows players of Obsidian's games were over three times as likely as average to also play Bethesda's. [13]
   • Yet Obsidian's Avowed and Bethesda's Oblivion Remastered came out two months apart in 2025. [13]

   Why it matters

   Omdia analyst James McWhirter said Game Pass, Xbox's subscription, moved players' money from buying games to paying monthly. [13]

   Newzoo's Manu Rosier said a crowded market rewards fewer bets, each made by the most experienced team. [13]

5. 07

   Halo's former leaders react to the handover

   What happened

   • Bonnie Ross, who led Halo at Microsoft for years, wrote that it was hard to wake up to news that Halo Studios had been essentially shut down. [14]
   • Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto said he was shocked but not entirely surprised. [14]
   • Former executive producer Kiki Wolfkill said she was gutted. [14]
   • Kotaku reports the cuts included long-serving Halo staff and at least one person promoted the day before. [14]

   Why it matters

   A new team at Activision will make the next main Halo game. [14]

   What remains of Halo Studios becomes a support team for the Halo games already on sale. [14]

6. 08

   Double Fine's founder says the downturn has run four years

   What happened

   • Tim Schafer, who founded Double Fine, the studio behind Psychonauts, told the BBC on 23 September that he does not understand the economics of making games. [15]
   • He used to expect layoffs to be followed by rehiring, but said the industry has been down for about four years. [15]
   • He noted that people are still playing games and companies are still making money. [15]
   • Double Fine left Xbox this year and is independent again. [15]

   Why it matters

   Schafer said staff at the biggest studios can be laid off as soon as they finish a game. [15]

   Small studios risk running out of money after they ship. [15]

7. 09

   Xbox checks Australians' age from their account history

   What happened

   • Australia's new rules mean a buyer must show they are over 18 to buy games rated R18+. [5]
   • PC Gamer's Australian editor got an email from Microsoft saying his account's long history showed he was an adult, so it was marked verified. [5]
   • Steam, Valve's PC game store, asks only for an active credit card, even from accounts over 20 years old. [5]
   • Very few Australians use credit cards, the magazine says. [5]

   Why it matters

   Two big stores face the same law and picked opposite checks.

   Microsoft asks long-time customers for nothing more, and Steam asks everyone for a card. [5]

   The truth

   • Who pays Australian Steam buyers without a credit card — Steam accepts only an active credit card as proof of age for R18+ games, and few Australians use one. [5]

   Good news

   • Microsoft marked long-standing Xbox accounts in Australia as adult from their history, so those players need to do nothing more to keep buying R18+ games.
8. 10

   EA staff told Saudi owners won't make creative calls

   What happened

   • Electronic Arts, maker of The Sims and EA Sports FC, was sold on 4 August for $55 billion to Saudi Arabia's national investment fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, the firm of Jared Kushner. [19]
   • Kotaku's sources say executives told staff the next day that the new owners will not make creative decisions. [19]
   • They say layoffs were not discussed. [19]
   • EA carries $18 billion of debt and told lenders it would cut $170 million in costs, Bloomberg reported. [19]

   Why it matters

   Fans of series with gay and trans characters, such as Dragon Age and The Sims, worry because Saudi Arabia makes same-sex relationships a crime. [19]

   Staff outside EA's biggest series say they have waited a year to learn if their jobs will go. [19]

   How it works

   EA's new owners carry $18 billion of debt, and EA promised lenders $170 million of cost cuts that staff have not yet been told about.

   The idea, in story 02: Why a studio shrinks on the day it changes hands →

   The truth

   • Who pays EA staff outside its biggest series — They are waiting to learn where $170 million of promised cost cuts will fall. [19]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Where EA's promised $170 million of cost cuts will fall.

     EA told lenders about the cuts, Bloomberg reported, but Kotaku's sources say staff have not been told where they will land. [19]

9. 11

   PlayStation tests store credit on new games

   What happened

   • Some PlayStation Store buyers are getting $10 of store credit when they buy certain new games, Eurogamer reports. [18]
   • One US buyer of The Blood of Dawnwalker got the credit after buying it, and the offer was marked as ending on 29 September. [18]
   • Players have seen it on other recent games too, including Star Wars Zero Company. [18]
   • Sony has not explained the offer, and it is not clear why only some players see it. [18]

   Buy a new game

   ++

   Store credit back$10

   Why it matters

   Store credit can only be spent in the same store, and Microsoft has done the same on Xbox for years. [18]

   Eurogamer says it may be linked to Sony's tests of charging different customers different prices. [18]

   The truth

   • Nobody knows yet

     Why only some PlayStation buyers see the $10 store credit.

     Sony has not explained the offer, and Eurogamer can only guess at a link to its price tests. [18]

10. 12

    Arc Raiders adds a paid pass that pays for itself

    What happened

    • Embark Studios' shooter Arc Raiders is replacing its free reward track with a Reward Pass in its Frozen Trail update. [16]
    • Everyone who owns the game gets the free track, and a premium track costs 1,150 Raider Tokens, about $10. [16]
    • The paid track holds only looks, and new weapons and gear stay on the free one. [16]
    • Completing the pass returns 1,350 tokens, 200 of them from the free track. [16]

    Paid track costs1,150 tokens

    Completing the pass returns1,350 tokens

    Why it matters

    A pass is how many games keep charging after the first sale.

    Embark kept weapons on the free track, so paying buys looks, not an edge in a fight. [16]

    The truth

    • Who gains Embark Studios, maker of Arc Raiders — It now sells a paid track for about $10, while keeping weapons on the free one so players cannot pay for an edge. [16]

    Good news

    • Arc Raiders keeps every new weapon and piece of gear on its free track, and its new paid track returns more tokens than it costs.
11. 13

    Xbox adds a reward for finishing everything

    What happened

    • Xbox has begun rolling out Mythic achievements, awarded when a player unlocks every other achievement in a game. [17]
    • Asha Sharma, head of Xbox, teased them in August, and they are Xbox's version of PlayStation's Platinum trophies. [17]
    • They are worth no Gamerscore, the points Xbox players collect, and add-on achievements do not count, TrueAchievements reports. [17]
    • The unlock sound runs for nearly 15 seconds. [17]

    Why it matters

    Most players will rarely see one, because it needs every achievement in a game. [17]

    It arrived in the same week as Xbox's latest job cuts. [17]

12. 14

    An IGN writer says Marvel Rivals is losing players

    What happened

    • Marvel Rivals, a superhero team shooter from the Chinese company NetEase, began its tenth season with a patch changing more than half its characters. [20]
    • It was a hit at launch in December 2024. [20]
    • In an opinion piece, IGN's Carlos Morales, who has played more than 1,000 hours, says players are leaving. [20]
    • He blames repeated balance problems, unfair ranked matches, a shop pushing players to spend more, and rows over character costumes. [20]

    Why it matters

    NetEase is pushing the game into tournaments. [20]

    A new Avengers film due within months could bring a wave of new players, Morales notes. [20]

13. 15

    Two Lord of the Rings games come to Switch 2

    What happened

    • Aspyr, a company that brings older games to new machines, will release Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War on Nintendo's Switch 2 on 30 September. [21]
    • The bundle costs $70, but is half price, $35, until 6 October. [21]
    • Monolith Productions made both games, and Warner Bros Games closed that studio in 2025. [21]
    • Aspyr re-released War in the North in August and plans more. [21]

    Why it matters

    The studio that made these games is closed, but the games are still being sold on a new machine. [21]

    New Lord of the Rings games are being made at Warhorse, the studio behind Kingdom Come. [21]

14. 16

    World of Warcraft: Forever's test draws a big crowd

    What happened

    • In mid-September Blizzard opened a public test of World of Warcraft: Forever, a new version of its 20-year-old online game. [23]
    • Developer Josh Greenfield posted that the test had the craziest numbers he had seen in 17 years at Blizzard. [23]
    • Producer Tom Ellis said the test servers were small, so players first met login queues and disconnections. [23]
    • Blizzard fixed them the same day. [23]

    Why it matters

    Blizzard has published no player figures, so the size of the crowd rests on one developer's word. [23]

    The truth

    • Nobody knows yet

      How many people are playing the World of Warcraft: Forever test.

      Blizzard has published no figure, only one developer's word that the numbers were the craziest he had seen. [23]