Today's consoles are connected to the internet: they have accounts with payment cards, stores, and voice and text chat with players from all over the world. The main risks are account theft (especially through “free coins” or fake sign-in pages), unauthorised purchases with a parent's card, chatting with strangers who may try to manipulate children, and spending too much time gaming.
All three major manufacturers offer free family apps and settings: PlayStation Family / PlayStation family controls, Xbox Family Settings and Nintendo Switch Parental Controls.
Menu names may differ slightly depending on the console model (PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series, Switch/Switch 2) and the software version.
⚙️ Step-by-step settings
Menu names may differ slightly depending on the model and version.
PlayStation: turn on 2-step verification
PlayStation accounts with games and saved cards are a common target for theft.
- On PS5: Settings → Users and Accounts → Account → Security → 2-Step Verification.
- Choose an authenticator app (recommended) or SMS.
- Keep the backup codes somewhere safe.
- You can also do this in a browser by signing in to the official PlayStation account website → Security.
- Use a long, unique password that you don't use anywhere else.
- A passkey is also recommended if your account offers one.
PlayStation: require a password for every purchase
Prevents accidental or unauthorised purchases in the PlayStation Store.
- PS5: Settings → Users and Accounts → Account → Payment and Subscriptions → Purchase Settings.
- Turn on Require Password at Checkout.
- For children, don't save a card on the child's account – use the monthly spending limit in the family controls.
- Consider using gift cards with a fixed value instead of a bank card.
Xbox: protect your Microsoft account and console
Your Microsoft account links your Xbox, Windows, email and purchases.
- In a browser, go to account.microsoft.com → Security → Advanced security options → turn on Two-step verification.
- You can use the Microsoft Authenticator app or a passkey.
- On Xbox: Settings → Account → Sign-in, security & passkey → Change my sign-in & security preferences.
- Choose Ask for my passkey – this requires a 6-digit code to sign in and/or make purchases.
- Don't choose No barriers if children or other people also use the console.
Nintendo: protect your Nintendo Account
Your Nintendo Account stores your purchases, games and payment methods.
- In a browser, sign in at accounts.nintendo.com.
- Choose Sign-in and security settings → 2-Step Verification → Edit.
- Use an authenticator app (e.g. Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator) and keep the backup codes.
- On the console, in Nintendo eShop → account icon → Password Settings, set it to ask for the password on every purchase.
- For children's accounts, set spending restrictions through the Family Group at accounts.nintendo.com.
Voice chat and messages
Strangers can use chat to insult or pressure children, or to befriend them with bad intentions.
- PS5: Settings → Users and Accounts → Privacy → View and Customise Your Privacy Settings – set messages and friend requests to Friends Only or No One.
- Xbox: Settings → Account → Privacy & online safety → Xbox privacy → View details & customise → Communication & multiplayer – allow friends only.
- Nintendo: in-game chat is controlled in the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app; on Switch 2, GameChat for children requires a parent's approval.
- Learn how to block and report a player: on all consoles, open the player's profile → Block / Report.
- Play with headphones in a shared room – a parent can pick up the tone of the conversation without hearing every word.
Watch out for “free coins” and fake offers
Websites promising free V-Bucks, FC Points or PSN codes steal accounts.
- Only buy virtual currency inside the game or in the console's official store.
- Never enter your account username and password on websites that promise gifts.
- Don't sell, buy or swap accounts – it's against the terms and often ends in a scam.
- Report messages that promise free stuff and block the sender.
✅ Do / Don't
✅ Do this
- Turn on 2-step verification for your PlayStation, Microsoft/Xbox and Nintendo accounts.
- Require a password or PIN for every purchase.
- Set chat and messages to “friends only” for children.
- Only add people you know in real life as friends.
- Check a game's PEGI rating before you buy it.
- Use the official family apps to manage gaming time and spending.
- Keep the console in a shared room for younger children.
- Report and block players who insult, threaten or ask for photos.
❌ Don't do this
- Don't share your gaming account password, not even with friends.
- Don't trust websites or videos offering “free V-Bucks/Robux/FC Points”.
- Don't save a bank card on a child's account without a spending limit.
- Don't move a chat with strangers from a game to other private apps.
- Never send photos or personal details (school, address) to players online.
- Don't buy or sell accounts, skins or items outside official stores.
- Don't leave the console on automatic sign-in without a PIN if several people use it.
- Don't turn off 2-step verification “because it's annoying”.
👨👩👧 Family settings on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch
PlayStation
- The parent creates their own account as the family manager and adds the child as a member (child account) – from the console: Settings → Family and Parental Controls → Family Management, or from the PlayStation Family app / the PlayStation account website.
- For your child, set: the age limit for games (based on PEGI), daily playtime, a monthly spending limit and communication restrictions.
- You can approve your child's requests for more time or for a game from your phone.
Xbox
- Install the free Xbox Family Settings app on the parent's phone.
- Add or create your child's account in the Microsoft family group.
- Set: screen time, the age limit for games, who can communicate with your child (friends only), approval of new friends and purchase requests (Ask to buy).
Nintendo Switch / Switch 2
- Install the free Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app on the parent's phone.
- On the console: System Settings → Parental Controls, and link it to the app using the registration code.
- Set playtime, the age-based restriction level, and restrictions on communicating and posting to social media.
- At accounts.nintendo.com → Family Group, restrict spending in the Nintendo eShop for your child's account.
Explain the rules to your child from the start and agree on gaming time together – rules you've agreed on together are easier to stick to.
⚠️ Warning signs
- You get emails about a password, email or payment method change that you didn't make.
- Purchases appear that nobody in the family made.
- You can no longer sign in to your account, or the account email has been changed.
- Unknown people appear in your friends list, or there are messages sent from you that you didn't write.
- Games, items or virtual currency have disappeared.
- Your child becomes secretive, anxious or frightened after playing online.
🆘 If you get hacked
- Step 1: If you still have access, change your password immediately and turn on 2-step verification.
- Step 2: Sign out of all devices (PlayStation: the option to sign out of all devices in the security settings; Microsoft: account.microsoft.com → Security; Nintendo: accounts.nintendo.com → Sign-in and security).
- Step 3: Change the password of the email linked to the account – attacks often start there.
- Step 4: Remove saved cards and tell your bank about any unauthorised purchases.
- Step 5: Contact official PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo support through their official websites – never through “helpers” on social media.
- Step 6: If someone is threatening or blackmailing your child, don't pay, keep the evidence (screenshots, usernames) and report it to Kosovo Police on 192.
More help: Help & Reporting