Valve has recently initiated compliance with the United Kingdom’s newly implemented Online Safety Act by introducing a significant change to how certain content is accessed on its popular digital distribution platform, Steam. In order for British users to reach any webpages or games categorized as containing “mature content,” Valve now obligates them to verify their age through the use of a valid credit card. This requirement is extensive, covering not only the purchase or launching of such titles but also restricting entry to the community hubs where players typically share discussions, guides, artwork, and other user-generated content connected to these mature-rated games. Unless a legitimate credit card is securely stored within a user’s Steam account, entry to these areas is effectively blocked.
This approach stands apart from the strategies employed by other large online platforms operating under the same regulatory environment. For example, services such as Reddit, Bluesky, and Discord have integrated age-verification methods that rely on biometric checks, most notably through the submission of a selfie matched against automated identification tools. Valve, however, has deliberately refrained from adopting such technology. Instead, the company has opted for a more delimitated yet privacy-conscious pathway using nothing beyond credit card information. According to a support article published by Valve, after reviewing a wide range of possible age assurance mechanisms, the company concluded that credit card verification best preserves user confidentiality. By requiring a stored payment method intrinsically linked to adulthood, Valve emphasizes that its system simultaneously enforces personal accountability while making it far more difficult for multiple individuals to share a single Steam profile in an attempt to bypass age-related restrictions.
In the United Kingdom, financial institutions are legally obligated to issue credit cards only to individuals who are at least eighteen years of age. This regulatory standard effectively shifts the burden of age confirmation away from Valve and toward the established banking system, thereby providing a legally recognized safeguard. However, this also introduces a firm limitation: any individual without an eligible credit card will find themselves locked out from accessing or even browsing mature-rated games and associated community hubs, since the platform currently provides no substitute verification options.
Valve’s decision arrives in the wake of heightened scrutiny surrounding the practicality of age-gating systems under the new legal requirements. Shortly before this adjustment, the UK’s rules regarding age-based access controls were criticized as being susceptible to circumvention, often through the use of relatively simple tools such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). In fact, Discord and Reddit’s selfie-based age gates were temporarily undermined by an unconventional loophole involving a creative use of the photo mode in the video game *Death Stranding*, allowing users to manipulate verification scans. Although these vulnerabilities have since been addressed with updates to the scanning process, the episode highlighted the fragility of relying exclusively on face recognition technologies. By contrast, Valve believes its exclusive reliance on credit card validation adds an additional structural barrier against manipulation and maintains a clear audit trail tied to adult users.
The broader gaming industry is responding in parallel. Microsoft, for instance, has begun carefully rolling out its own age-verification infrastructure for Xbox users in the United Kingdom. At present, these checks are optional and function more as a preliminary trial stage, but the company has confirmed that compliance will become compulsory in early 2026. This deadline aligns with the phased enforcement timeline of the Online Safety Act, which will introduce wider-ranging obligations for digital platforms. When these new requirements formally take effect, accessing a significant number of Xbox’s interactive services will no longer be possible without passing such verification procedures.
Taken together, these developments signal that the UK’s Online Safety Act is reshaping the digital entertainment landscape, compelling platforms like Steam and Xbox to introduce stricter, legally compliant mechanisms for ensuring that mature content remains accessible only to adults. Valve’s credit card verification policy illustrates one possible model that emphasizes privacy protection and legal delegation to banks, but at the same time it raises concerns regarding accessibility for users who cannot or prefer not to maintain an active credit card. Regardless, the shift represents a decisive transformation in how online gaming platforms balance user freedom, governmental regulation, and systemic safeguards against underage exposure to adult content.
Sourse: https://www.theverge.com/news/767980/steam-uk-age-vertification-online-safety-act-credit-card-mature-games
