The UK has enforced the new Online Safety Act. In the wake of it, the gamers seem to have stumbled upon the unexpected workaround. As per reports, using Death Stranding 2: On the Beach’s photo mode allows players to pass the facial verification on platforms like Discord. It might sound bizarre, but truly, it’s working. Such a clever workaround, though, is raising questions not just about the tech, but even about how we define age verification within the digital world.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach digital workaround outwits the facial age scans
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has become one of the unlikely tools for age verification bypass in the United Kingdom. With the Online Safety Act now in force in the country, platforms like Reddit and Discord have implemented stricter age-verification checks. But it didn’t take much time for the users to find a loophole.Dany Sterkhov, a user on X, was the first to demonstrate how the high-fidelity video game photo mode of Death Stranding 2 can trick the facial recognition technology. While pointing the camera at Sam Porter Bridges, in the photo mode of the game, users can successfully pass the age verification of Discord. It was, though, not the only case. There are many others who have replicated this result with utmost ease.
Why does the Death Stranding 2 photo mode work for age verification?
The age verification on Discord, which is powered by the k-ID system, has promoted users for performing just some basic actions, like closing/opening their mouths. The Death Stranding 2 photo mode allows users to animate Sam’s face with another level of realism. This means that even some dynamic verification prompts, like turning the head or moving the lips, can be easily met by the use of game settings.Reddit, which uses a different service (Persona), even failed to distinguish between an in-game model and a real human. It was only Bluesky that uses a much more robust system of Yoti was able to successfully flag the attempts of users. Though for many, Reddit and Discord remained the primary targets, and they were able to fool the system in just seconds.
Is this a clever bypass or a concerning loophole?
What makes the entire workaround here so striking is not just the simplicity of the process but also its implications. The law in the UK demands robust verification to protect minors. Yet, just a smartphone camera and a PlayStation game were enough to satisfy the verification requirement.The entire verification method does not just avoid uploading personal IDs or selfies but also hints at how easily current tech can be fooled. While the VPNs definitely are another method here, the Death Stranding 2 bypass does not need any downloads, payments or users to know about the tech know-how. Its complete simplicity might appeal to privacy-conscious users, but it even calls into question the broader strategy of UK law and its effectiveness.If asked, what’s next, quite likely the platforms will be required to either improve tech or go ahead and rethink their entire approach; after all, if they do not, they will be facing fines of up to $24.2 million or 10% of the global revenue (whichever is higher). As of now, Death Stranding 2 has offered much more than just a haunting narrative. It has become a part of the real-world debate on privacy concerns, identity and even the AI-based enforcement limits.
