In a recent change prompted by the settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Genshin Impact players in the United States are now required to verify their age by July 18, 2025, or risk account suspension. Alongside this update, the game has also rolled out a new addition: players can now buy Intertwined Fates directly, with prices displayed upfront.
According to the official notice posted by HoYoverse, all U.S. accounts, both existing and newly created, must complete age verification starting May 20, 2025.
“Dear Travelers，
We are required by law to age verify US player accounts. The age verification process will be rolled out to all US players by May 20th while login (if already have one) or account registration.
Please ensure to provide your age information by July 18th, 2025. Failure to verify will result in:
– Account suspension
– In-game friends and chat records will be deleted
– No further notifications post-suspension due to inaccessible account information as required by law
If the verification is not completed by July 20th, 2026, the personal information of your HoYoverse account will be deleted permanently.”
Players will be prompted to enter their age on login or when creating an account. Those who fail to verify by the July 18 deadline will have their accounts suspended, lose access to in-game friends and chat history, and be unable to receive further notifications due to legal compliance limitations. If verification is not completed by July 20, 2026, HoYoverse will permanently delete personal information tied to the account.
New In-Game Changes to go Along With This
Players logging into Genshin today were greeted with the option to directly purchase Intertwined Fates from the wish screen. Prices are now shown explicitly: $2.59 for one Fate, or $21.99 for a 10-pull.
The banner itself also now includes a cost range estimate of $1.98 to $475.12 USD to obtain a 5-star event-exclusive character, depending on luck. This display of gacha pricing, has generally been met with a positive reception so far. Transaprency is always nice at the end of the day.
Furthermore, the costs themselves are now directly on the wishing screen for US players. Other accounts outside of the US, even those playing on the America server aren’t affected.
It’s worth noting that this system does not replace the usual Genesis Crystal conversions, but exists alongside it, effectively offering another, more transparent payment option.
Why Genshin Impact Specifically?
The new policy is part of an earlier FTC settlement aimed at increasing transparency around parental consent and in-game currency practices. The agreement requires HoYoverse to enforce stricter age-gating for U.S. players. The update appears to affect only Genshin Impact for now, with no similar systems yet added in Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero or any other gacha games. Which does make this feel like more of a targeted attack than a change made for consumer protections.
For now, this new direction is exclusive to Genshin, but it raises larger questions about whether similar policies will be extended to HoYoverse’s other titles, or if other gacha games will soon follow suit under regulatory pressure.