Gamers are passionate about their hobby and if your child wants a console of their own there’s plenty of options out there. However, parents can worry about safety when it comes to finding suitable games to play and with online gaming. But with a bit of research and careful implementation, you can ensure that their play remains secure and age appropriate.

Here, we guide you through some key points to help with parental controls, safe online play and more.

Safe Online Play: Friends, Strangers and Online Chat

Online play can be a great way to connect with friends, share games, and test your skills against real-world players but there’s also the risks that potentially come with speaking to strangers, and what language your child might hear.

Many multiplayer games will have online modes where gamers can play and compete with friends, family or strangers over the net. Knowing who you are playing against is one thing, but when it comes to playing with strangers, you don’t know what they will say or do, so having an online safety talk with your children or teens is good practice.

Let them know that it’s not appropriate to share home address details, places of education, or even personal photos. If they feel threatened, bullied or uncomfortable, they should leave the game immediately and tell someone about what has happened and how they are feeling. The NSPCC has further advice on keeping children safe while gaming online here.

Different consoles have different approaches to this, each with their own safety settings that can be toggled on and off before gameplay. Knowing each consoles safety measures can help you guide your child and put in preventative safety measures early.

Nintendo Switch & Switch 2 Parental Controls

Nintendo has long developed consoles and games with a far more family friendly focus than others (although, that’s not to say all games on their consoles are suitable for younger players). As such, parental controls are featured quite heavily on  both the Switch and Switch 2.

For both consoles you can download the Parental Controls App on your smartphone, which you can use to restrict voice chat access. On the app, navigate to ‘Restriction Level’ then select ‘Young Child’, ‘Child’, ‘Pre-Teen’ or ‘Custom’ to restrict ‘Communicating with Others’.

Each setting corresponds with the software rating of each game, so ‘Young Child’ only allows the user to play games rated E for Everyone and above. Social media and free communication settings on any game is heavily restricted.

‘Child’ only allows access to games rated Teen for 13+, and social media posting and free communication are restricted.

‘Teen’ allows access to games rated 17+ and younger with social media and free communication generally being permitted.

‘Custom’ allows you to manually control every setting to your liking. So, you can toggle specific age ratings, restrict VR visuals, disable social media and ban communication. Some games will still allow online play with restrictions in place, but there will be no way to communicate with other players. You can also report inappropriate behaviour from others via the app.

If you don’t have the app, you can also access the ‘System Settings’ on the consoles themselves. Simply, go to System Settings > Parental Controls > Use this Console > Restriction Level > Custom and toggle off “Communication with Others” to restrict in game chats.

The Switch 2 has a GameChat feature which can be restricted, permitted or blocked entirely through the app. You can control who players chat with, selecting only known friends, turn off video capabilities, and view the chat history to make sure you know what your child is seeing.

Some individual games may also allow users to turn on text censors, but this is worth researching on a game-by-game basis.

PlayStation Privacy Settings

While the core demographic for PlayStation is typically older than that of Nintendo, it still has privacy settings to help keep a handle on what players are seeing and interacting with.

You will have a profile on the console, and you can control how you appear and who can send you friend requests. Similarly, you can set up a child account for young games which are prohibited from sharing their real name or picture.

You can mute game chats in-game by pressing the PlayStation button on the controller, going to the Sound setting and toggling on Mute Game Voice Chat. You can further restrict communication through settings. Go to Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management and select the account. Go to Communication and Online Safety to restrict voice chat, messaging, and user-generated content and control exactly who can contact the account, and what they can send.

You can also disable messages in Privacy Settings, so no one can contact you outside of a game. Navigate to “Communication and Multiplayer,” and there you can set “Who can interact with you through parties, games, and messages” to Nobody, if you want no messages coming through, or Friends Only, for only those trusted few contacts. 

PlayStation has a code of conduct, and any players deemed to be breaking this can be reported. Each game will have an individual way of reporting a player, but they can usually be accessed by selecting the player you wish to report via their player ID. You can block or mute players regardless of whether they have breached the code of conduct.

Xbox

More focussed on the adult gamer, Xbox still offers the requisite privacy settings for protecting families online with Online and Safety settings found via the Settings > General > Online safety & family > Privacy & online safety > Xbox privacy. Here you can select Child, Teen or Adult default settings, or customise them to your preference by selecting View details & customise.

Simply Select Custom > View details & customise > Communication & multiplayer. Change “Others can communicate with voice, text, or invites” to Friends or Block so that you choose who can message. These settings can be further adjusted under Message Safety.

Under Settings > Account > Privacy & online safety > Message safety, you can adjust filters for incoming messages.

You can also use the Xbox Family Settings App on your mobile device to set communication restrictions to “Everyone,” “Friends,” or “Nobody”.

General Advice

All of the mentioned platforms allow you to block specific users if you don’t wish them to communicate with the user, but some games will have their own voice or chat settings.

These should still allow you to restrict communications, but you will have to navigate via the game’s menu, and you may need to disable them separately to ensure they are off.

Loot boxes in-game purchases, and spending controls

Some games will have downloadable content (DLC) which adds characters, outfits (sometimes called skins), extra levels and more but these often must be purchased with a registered credit or debit card. You can buy set points online or via physical gift cards.

For example, PlayStation have an online wallet for adult accounts that can be used to store funds for purchases, and parents can grant access to spend from this wallet. However, you can also withhold access and buy on a case-by-case basis or set spending limits for purchases.

Setting a spending limit allows users to still pick up extras for their game but means you can monitor how much is being spent to make sure it doesn’t get out of control.

Xbox has a similar system where you can add cards, redeem codes or use a PayPal account, whilst subscriptions are managed under another setting. Parents can, again, manage spending limits or restrict access to the wallet via the Xbox Family Settings app.

Nintendo has a wallet for their eShop that works much like the others, and you can access this via the Account Information. However, they have a password requirement for purchases meaning that parents can turn this on and then would need to input this information for each buy.

Loot boxes are a particularly controversial type of in-game purchase where an element of random luck is involved. With different rarity of the items that come in them, some games use these to offer bonus content but you’re never sure what will come in them. Some jurisdictions have regulated them under gambling laws but in the UK, this is not the case.  Industry guidelines, active since July 2024, require companies to provide technical controls to stop under-18s from buying them without parental consent and games must disclose if they are present in them. PEGI (Pan European Game Information) applies a 16+ age rating to games that include paid loot boxes.

The element of surprise can make them addictive and so making sure too much isn’t being spent on them can be a concern. Make sure to research what each in-game loot box system offers and talk to your child about why that randomised element can be problematic. Console settings can restrict these but if they become a concern, monitor bank statements for small frequent charges or disable purchases to prevent accidental or unapproved buys. Parental controls can help with this significantly.

Screen Time: Healthy Limits by Age

Parents are having to navigate a rapidly digitising world, and while gaming can offer a fun activity and reprieve from work, it does add another element of screentime into daily life.

The UK government has recently released guidance on screentime limits for under 5s saying that under 2s should avoid screens altogether unless in supervised settings that promote bonding, interacting and conversation.

2-to-5-year-olds should be allowed no more than one hour of screentime a day and it shouldn’t happen at mealtimes or before bed. The blue light from phones, laptops and TVs can suppress the production of melatonin, which is the hormone that helps sleep. As such, it can keep you alert, reduce sleep quality and lead to long-term health risks so everyone of all ages should be aware of it.

For over 5s, experts recommend no more than two hours of sedentary screentime (outside of schoolwork) a day. They should be particularly avoided during mealtimes and before bed, with the best way to go about this being screen-free zones where children can rest and play. This should be balanced with at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day.

Educational and slow-paced content should be prioritised over fast-paced and addictive content that demands shorter attention spans and can lead to addictive viewing habits.

Recognising Age Ratings

Videogames in Europe will have a PEGI rating to help parents understand the content that’s in them and assist in their purchasing decisions when deciding what’s appropriate for their child.

PEGI age labels indicate the minimum age a game is considered appropriate for, and in the UK these ratings are legally enforced for games rated 12 and above. Parents are encouraged to use the ratings as guidance alongside their own judgement.

• PEGI 3: Suitable for all ages; very mild, cartoon-style content with no bad language.
• PEGI 7: May contain mildly frightening scenes or non-realistic, implied violence.
• PEGI 12: Includes more intense, non-realistic violence towards fantasy characters, mild bad language and occasional lewd references.
• PEGI 16: Features more realistic violence, stronger language and references to adult substances.
• PEGI 18: Adult-only content with strong violence and themes unsuitable for children.
• PEGI!: A parental guidance label for non-game apps and digital content that may include varied or user-generated material.

You can read more about PEGI ratings on videogames in our article here.

Spotting red flags: bullying, scams, and inappropriate content

Keeping an eye out for red flags is vital for maintaining online safety, even if your child is just playing with friends or people they know. These can include bullying, scams or harassment so knowing what to look out for is half the battle,

If your child is repeatedly harassed or left out of games with others, it can mean they are being deliberately targeted or excluded while hostile and inappropriate language can also be much the same.

Try and set up games consoles in communal areas so you can overhear conversations or make the most of game chat monitoring tools to get an overview of what is being said.

Some may pressure gamers to move to other chat tools or private messaging apps that can’t be monitored so make sure they know the importance of parental oversight.

Other red flags can be financial scams where they try and ask for passwords or ban details so keeping that information away from children and making sure they don’t feel pressured to share information is key to keeping them, and you, safe. The same applies to inappropriate imagery or sharing of pictures and safety and privacy controls should be leveraged to prevent this as much as possible.

Building trust: how to talk to your child about gaming habits

Letting your children know what’s best for them, and how to identify inappropriate behaviour will help build trust in safety measures and in your attempts to protect their privacy.

Having honest and open conversations about this, as well as showing an interest in their gaming sessions, who they are playing with, and what they talked about can all build a positive relationship around their gaming habits while still maintaining a view on what is happening in these gaming sessions. It also offers emotional support if they are being bullied and feel they can go to someone about it.

Most platforms allow for you to report bullying, harmful behaviour or scams and these functions should be used where possible. If you do think these things are happening, intervene where possible, gather as much evidence as you can, screenshot conversations and elevate to higher authorities if you think it is needed.

There are plenty of resources online for building safe gaming habits, with charities and non-profit organisations providing guides and tools to keep you and your family safe.

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