Nexus Mods users looking for more risqué mods will soon have to submit age verification in multiple regions

If you’re an avid PC gamer in the UK or the European Union who likes to dive into the more risqué realm of mods, you’ll soon need to provide age verification for modding haven Nexus Mods.

While Nexus Mods already has a restricted adult category for some of its more ribald mods, anyone can access this by simply claiming they are of adult age. However, in the UK and EU, modders will soon have to pass a proper age verification procedure to get their mitts on that content, or no Whicked Whims for you.

Nexus Mods changes are coming

In a news post titled “The Law and Adult Content” published on the modding website, content manager SlugGirl explained that the website will be submitting to the demands of the UK Online Safety Act and the EU Digital Services Act. Both of these acts require services that offer adult content to add actual age verification procedures to stop younger users from accessing things they shouldn’t.

SlugGirl explains that Nexus Mods will add a form of age verification that PC gamers will need to use to access “the majority of adult content hosted on the site”. However, it’s unknown what specific verification service will be used on the website.

“Due to the Online Safety Act and Digital Services Act, we are required as a UK-based company to ensure we continue to remove illegal content and add additional restrictions to children’s access to certain adult content,” the moderator explained. “As a business, this leaves us with a choice: remove adult content for all UK and EU-based users [or] make adjustments to our policy, including adding age verification for some adult content.

“Adult content is a core part of what makes Nexus Mods what it is; we don’t consider removing it a viable option,” they continued. “We are aware that some users may find the changes irritating; however, we are obligated to do this to ensure we can continue to host adult content legally.”

For the UK specifically, the Office of Communications, aka Ofcom, has stated that adult services should require verification that asks for proof of identity. This means that modders will likely end up having to use a service that scans their face to check if they appear of age, or show their passport, driving license or other form of ID in order to use the service. However, Nexus Mods has not explained which, if any, of these tools will be used.

Additionally, in order to abide by the demands of the UK and EU, there are now more categories for adult content which doesn’t only include the smut the tag is usually filled with. The category will not also include tags that focus on extreme violence, harmful substances, suicide, self-harm, depression, eating disorders, swearing, and body stigma. It’s not known if any of these new tags will also require players to be 18 or over to access.

Finally, Nexus Mods is now introducing an “automated detection” tool to weed out any and all CSAM material on the platform. This new detection software will discover content deemed to be CSAM, remove it from the site, ban the user and report the offender to the National Crime Agency.

It’s not known exactly when every change will be added to the service, but the site claims they will be added “in the coming weeks and months”.