Is an online multiplayer game suitable for a teenager in my house?
Quick answer
It depends on the game's classification, what it sells, and who your teenager will meet in it. Look up the official rating, read the game's own minimum age in its terms, check for randomised purchases, and set up controls together. We don't present any game on this site, including Crossout, as suitable for under-18s.
Start with the classification
Games made available in Australia are covered by the national classification scheme. A classification tells you the age group a game is suited to and gives short reasons, called consumer advice, such as violence or online interactivity. The Australian Classification Board explains what each rating means and has a database where you can look up a title.
A few points are worth knowing before you search. Online games change through updates, so a rating describes the game as assessed. Ratings for games sold through digital storefronts may come through an international rating tool rather than a separate local assessment, which the Classification Board's site explains. And the rules about in-game purchases linked to chance, and about simulated gambling, are set out on that site too. Read them there rather than relying on summaries, including ours.
The summary we have for Crossout doesn't state its Australian classification, so we can't tell you what it is. Look it up yourself before deciding.
The game's own age requirement
Separately from classification, most online games set a minimum age in their terms of service. That's a contract condition for holding an account, and it may be higher than you'd expect. Some games require a parent's permission below a certain age; others don't allow younger players at all. It's on the vendor's website, usually in the terms or the support section.
If the terms set an age above your teenager's, the decision is made for you, whatever the classification says.
Questions for families
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| What is the official rating and why? | Classification Board database |
| What age do the terms require? | The game's terms of service |
| What can be bought, and is any of it randomised? | The in-game shop and the store page |
| Can players chat by text or voice? | The game's settings and support pages |
| Can chat and friend requests be limited? | The game's settings, and the platform's family controls |
| How do you report a player? | The game's support pages |
Spending: the conversation to have early
Teenagers often have access to a card, a gift card or a parent's saved payment details, and games make buying quick. Most parents would rather talk about spending before a surprise statement than after. Agree on a figure, including zero, and on whose money it is. Use gift cards for a hard limit, and don't save a card in a game account your teenager uses.
Our position on randomised purchases is firm: we don't describe any game that sells them, or that contains simulated gambling, as suitable for minors. If a game your teenager wants sells packs or crates with unknown contents, check its classification and consumer advice carefully. More on how in-game purchases work is on our page Is a free-to-play game actually free?
Chat, strangers and online behaviour
Multiplayer games are social by design. That's much of the appeal, and it means your teenager may be talking with people they don't know. Most games offer settings to limit chat to friends, mute voice, or block players. Platforms and operating systems often add their own family controls on top.
The eSafety Commissioner publishes practical guidance for parents and young people about online games, including how to talk about risks without turning it into a lecture, and how to report serious online abuse. It's the most useful single resource for this part of the decision.
What to watch out for
- Other players asking to move a conversation to another app, or to share photos or personal details.
- Offers of free items or currency in exchange for login details, which are scams aimed at younger players in particular. Scamwatch has examples.
- Pressure inside a team to spend money to "keep up".
- Signs that gaming is crowding out sleep, school or friends. eSafety has guidance on balance that avoids scare tactics.
Time, not just content
Classification tells you about content. It says nothing about how a game is paced, and pacing is often what parents end up negotiating. Online games commonly include daily rewards, streaks and limited events, all designed to bring players back at particular times. For an adult that is a mild nudge. For a teenager with homework, it can feel like an obligation.
Worth asking before the account is created: can you stop mid-session without losing something? Are there daily tasks that expire? How long is a typical match, and therefore the smallest sensible unit of play? A game with ten-minute matches and no daily deadlines is far easier to fit around a school week than one that punishes a missed day.
The eSafety Commissioner's advice on this is more useful than rules of thumb about screen time, because it focuses on whether gaming is displacing sleep, school and other friendships rather than on the clock alone.
If something goes wrong online
Even in a well-run game, a teenager may meet harassment, pressure or contact that worries them. A few things make that easier to handle.
- Know the reporting path before you need it. Most games have an in-game report function and a support page. Find them together, early.
- Keep evidence. A screenshot and the player's name are what a report needs.
- Make it safe to tell you. If the response to a problem is losing the game, problems stop being mentioned.
- Escalate when it is serious. The eSafety Commissioner takes reports of serious online abuse and cyberbullying affecting Australian children and can require platforms to act.
Setting up together
- Read the classification and the terms together. If either rules the game out, that's an easy conversation.
- Create the account together using an email you can both get into, with a unique passphrase and multi-factor login.
- Go through the chat and privacy settings before the first match.
- Agree on spending and time in plain terms, and write it down if that helps.
- Check in after a week. Ask what they like about it and who they play with.
Our account safety page has more on passphrases and recovering accounts.
Who the account belongs to
One question worth settling early is whose name the account is in. If the terms of service require an adult below a certain age, the account may formally be yours, with your teenager playing on it. That matters for recovery and for purchases: support will talk to the account holder, and a card attached to the account is the account holder's responsibility.
Whichever way you go, use an email address a parent can also get into, keep the recovery details somewhere you can both find, and agree that password resets are a conversation rather than something done quietly.
Where this leaves Crossout
We describe Crossout on this site for adult readers. The summary we have doesn't state its classification, its minimum age, or whether it sells randomised items, so we're not in a position to say it's suitable for a teenager and we don't. If you're considering it for someone under 18, look up the official classification, read the vendor's terms, and make your own judgement with the guidance above.