Epic Games launches ‘cabined accounts’ for kids in the metaverse

Epic Games announced today it’s launching a new feature called “Cabined Accounts.” These will be limited accounts designed with the safety of children in mind, says the company. The feature begins rolling out today in Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys. Epic also alludes to these child-friendly accounts being used in the metaverse.

Cabined accounts on the Epic Games Store are similar to normal accounts, but with certain features disabled. At creation, if a player indicates that their age is under 13 or their country’s age of digital consent, their account is cabined by default. They must provide a trusted adult’s email address, where Epic will request parental consent. Cabined accounts have chat and purchasing turned off. Parents must consent to the child using the account before they can access anything besides the aforementioned three games.

Epic specifically says in its announcement that it doesn’t wish for cabined accounts to feel restricted, especially as it motivates children to lie about their age. It adds, “Another approach has been to offer a fulsome experience for younger players, but if kids do not obtain permission from their parents, they are locked out entirely with no alternatives. Neither of these are optimal.”

While it doesn’t expand much upon this in the blog post, Epic notes that this is in part to keep children safe within the burgeoning metaverse. Earlier this year, Epic previously partnered with Lego to create a safe space in the metaverse for kids to create. In 2020, it acquired SuperAwesome, an online privacy and safety platform. It offers SuperAwesome’s parental controls to all developers, and cabined accounts work through its verification system.