Steam users in the UK who want to access "mature content games" or related community hubs are now required to have a valid credit card associated with their account. The new requirement was implemented to ensure Valve's compliance with the country's Online Safety Act, which mandates age checks in order to gain access to adult-oriented online content.
Registering a credit card is the only way to access adult content on Steam from within the UK. It's presumably more foolproof that the selfie system that proved susceptible to Death Stranding's photo mode, but Valve said going this route also "preserves the maximum degree of user privacy." This is a major point of concern: As PC Gamer's Jacob Ridley wrote last month, the new age verification requirement is a potential "privacy nightmare."
"The data processed in the verification process is identical to that of the millions of other Steam users who make purchases or store their payment details for convenience," Valve explained. "The verification process therefore provides no information about a user's content preferences to payment providers or other third parties."
Requiring a credit card also relieves Valve of the responsibility of doing any actual age checks: "In the UK, an individual must be at least 18 years of age to obtain a credit card, therefore credit card issuers are obliged to verify the age of an applicant before providing them with a credit card."
The update announcing the new age verification requirement doesn't break down what counts as "mature content games," so I fired up ye olde VPN and took it for a spin. As best I can tell, the restriction only applies to games marked "Adult Only": Games rated PEGI 18 (since we're pretending to be in the UK) still show up in search results and are fully accessible, but sex games do not. I logged into my account, while still connected through the VPN, and sex games started showing up in search results; logged out, and they were gone again. PEGI 18 games were there either way.
So basically, if you want to play a game that lets you walk into a crowded airport with an M249 and air out a couple hundred people, maybe set off some bombs or whatever, that's cool—but if you want to look at some cartoon tiddy, well, I'm afraid that's over the line. Because sure, why not.
Some folks on Reddit (via RPS) say Steam will also accept debit cards for age verification, which is good for anyone without a credit card; while minors in the UK can have debit cards, other redditors say it won't do them any good as far as getting around Steam's age gate because cards issued to minors are on different account types.
Interestingly, I was able to access sex games while logged into my account and VPNing from London, even though I don't have a credit card registered. I thought I might be getting a back-door verification because of the age of my Steam account (it's an oldie) but Tom Warren of The Verge indicated that's not the case; presumably it's because even though I appeared to be logging in from the UK, my account is 'located' in Canada (Steam actually gave me a hassle about that when I tried to sign in) and so I get a pass.
Microsoft has also begun rolling out age verification requirements for Xbox owners in the UK. It's currently optional, but will become mandatory in early 2026. A petition calling for the repeal of the Online Safety Act now stands at more than 530,000 signatures, but the government has said in its formal response that it "has no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act, and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the Act as quickly and effectively as possible to enable UK users to benefit from its protections."
