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How to Set Up Parental Controls for Mature-Rated Games on PlayStation and Xbox

By Freedom251 Team · · 4 min read

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To block mature-rated games, set an age-based content limit on the child’s own account through your platform’s family controls. On PlayStation, manage the child under Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management. On Xbox, use the child’s profile in Xbox Family Settings or Microsoft Family Safety and set its content filter. The steps below reflect US-facing guidance for PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S; rating labels and available controls can vary by region.

Before you change the settings

Use a separate child account that belongs to your family group rather than changing restrictions on an adult profile. On PlayStation, the adult family manager must create a family and add the child before setting child controls. Microsoft’s Xbox guidance likewise uses a family group and the child’s Microsoft/Xbox account. For PlayStation, see PlayStation’s parental-controls guide and safety guidance for parents; for Xbox, see Xbox family settings.

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  • Check that the child is signed in to their own account and that their date of birth is accurate.
  • Choose the age ceiling based on the ratings used in your region and the games you want to allow.
  • Game-age limits are separate from privacy, communication, spending and playtime controls. Set those separately if needed.

Set game age limits on PlayStation

PS5 console

  1. Sign in using the adult account that is the family manager. Create a family and add the child if you have not already done so.
  2. On the PS5, open Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management.
  3. Select the child, then select the parental-control setting for game age. Set Age Level for Games or the applicable Games and Apps restriction to the level you want.
  4. Review the preset and customize individual values if necessary. Adjusting individual values changes the restriction level to Customize. PlayStation says the selected settings can cover PS5, PS4 and PS3 game and app age levels.

Web or PlayStation Family app

For the web route, sign in to Account Management, open Family Management, select the child and choose Edit. The PlayStation Family app also provides child-level controls. PlayStation’s setup instructions cover these routes.

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When a child requests a blocked game

On PS5, a child can send a request from the blocked-game screen. The family manager and any appointed parent or guardian can review it through the PS Family app, web Family Management, or PS5 notifications and Allowed Games, then approve or deny the request. This documented exception flow concerns access to a game; it does not replace separate communication or privacy settings.

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If the change does not seem to apply

  • If the child is already playing when you change a control, PlayStation advises having them sign out and back in for the change to take effect.
  • Check that the child has completed email verification and is signed in to the child account.
  • Review settings that could let the child bypass restrictions, including use of unrestricted guest or new accounts and the ability to change parental controls.

Set game age limits on Xbox

Use the child’s profile in family settings

  1. Sign in with an adult Microsoft family organizer account and add the child’s Microsoft/Xbox account to the family group if necessary.
  2. Open Xbox Family Settings or Microsoft Family Safety and select the child or family member.
  3. Choose the Xbox platform and configure the content filter or age limit for apps and games. Select the age appropriateness that matches what you want the child to access.

Microsoft describes its age filter as limiting apps and games to the selected age appropriateness, and says app and game filters apply on Xbox. The supported guidance provides an app and web route rather than one universal current Xbox console-menu path; follow the current prompts shown on your console if you manage settings there. See Microsoft’s guide to filtering apps and games, Xbox family settings and ESRB’s Xbox parental-controls guide.

Optional: set playtime limits separately

In Microsoft Family Safety, select the family member and Xbox platform, then choose Set time limits > Apps, features, and games. Turn limits on, select a game, and configure daily time and allowed hours. These limits manage when or how long a game can be used; they are separate from its age filter. See Microsoft’s instructions for app and game limits.

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Choose an age ceiling using your region’s ratings

In the US, ESRB’s M (Mature) category is described by PlayStation as potentially suitable for people ages 17 and older. That is a rating-category indication, not a judgment that every M-rated game is suitable for every 17-year-old. Use the rating icon and details shown for your region, then set the child’s age/content ceiling below the titles you want blocked. PlayStation notes that family-feature conditions vary by country or region. See PlayStation’s US ratings guidance.

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Xbox Wire’s 2020 explanation of age filters gave the example of an eight-year-old limited to E-rated games and blocked from more mature titles. It illustrates how an age-based filter works, not a universal setting recommendation or a current menu path. The example appears in Xbox Wire’s 2020 description of Family Settings features.

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What the game-age setting does—and does not—cover

An age filter is only one part of a child’s safety setup. On PlayStation, game access and communication or user-generated-content controls are separate settings. Linked third-party apps and services may have their own controls, so review those directly as well. The same practical distinction applies when deciding what to configure on Xbox: use the family tools for the limits they provide, and review privacy or communication controls independently. Neither platform’s cited age-filter guidance establishes that every game’s online chat, user-generated content or linked third-party service is controlled by the game-age setting.

PlayStation’s parent safety guidance explains its separate controls, while Xbox family settings describes Microsoft’s family-management options. No third-party parental-control product is required by the setup guidance cited here.

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