Congress mandates parental controls in online games—but lets companies avoid age verification
H.R. 6265 — Safer GAMING Act · Filed by Thomas Kean (R-NJ) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Nov 21, 2025 · Markup held
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What it does
This bill requires online video game companies to give parents tools to control who their children can communicate with in multiplayer games. These parental controls must be turned on by default for minors, easy to use, and can only be disabled by parents. The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general can enforce the rule and sue companies that violate it.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward regulatory mandate: game companies must provide parental communication controls. It is framed as consumer protection (child safety) and enforced through existing FTC authority and state attorney general powers.
What the text implies
- Preemption clause (final section) prevents states from imposing stricter parental-control requirements, potentially capping safety standards at the federal floor rather than allowing states to innovate or exceed.
- One-year implementation window may create compliance burden for smaller indie game studios with limited resources, potentially favoring larger publishers with existing infrastructure.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
Large video game publishers (EA, Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, Microsoft Game Pass); Gaming platforms (Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live); Parental-control software vendors (if outsourced compliance)