Valve adds credit card-based age checks for UK users to access “mature content” games on Steam; Discord and others are using selfies for verification
UK's Online Safety Act requires blocking minors from accessing mature content Asha Bardon / CBR : Steam Now Needs Your Age & ID Verified When You Buy Mature Video Games Richard Devine / Windows Central : Steam will comply with the UK's age verification rules without sending any of your data to third-parties — doing a better job than Xbox James Ratcliff / Game Rant : Steam Implements Controversial Age Verification Measures Ed Nightingale / Eurogamer.net : UK Steam users must now verify age to access store pages for mature games thanks to Online Safety Act Andy Chalk / PC Gamer : Steam users in the UK who want ‘mature game content’ must now register a credit card on their accounts to prove they're old enough Zack Zwiezen / Kotaku : Valve Now Requiring Steam Users Verify Their Age In The UK Joseph Allen / TechRaptor : Steam Age Verification Kicks In for UK Users, Credit Card Required to Pass Dylan Horetski / Dexerto : Steam now requires age verification in the UK for mature game pages Edwin Evans-Thirlwell / Rock, Paper, Shotgun : Valve now require UK Steam users to verify their ages with a credit card, thanks to the Online Safety Act Vic Hood / GamesIndustry.biz : Valve introduces age verification for UK Steam users Sam Woods / TheGamer : Steam Is The Latest Major Platform To Require Users To Verify Their Age To View Mature Content Blue's News : Steam Adding UK Age Verification Bluesky: @sharkabytes : I just searched a mature content game, got the request to add card details to access, and put in my new replacement debit card ones, and it cleared the check just fine. — Looks like this is incorrect wording on Verge's part, so don't panic! And keep hammering the payment processors. [embedded post] Rosalie / @littlerecordgirl : This is horrendous. I've avoided getting a credit card to avoid getting into serious debt, especially as I've only been out my overdraft for 5+ years. I was going to get one eventually to help with my credit rating only, but this feels like it's screwing over low-wage players and mature game devs. … Tom Warren / @tomwarren.co.uk : Steam users in the UK will need a credit card to access “mature content” games and pages. Valve has started to comply with the UK's Online Safety Act, but Brits won't be able to use a selfie to verify their age on Steam. Full details 👇 www.theverge.com/news/767980/ ... Mastodon: @SuffolkLITLab@esq.social : TL;DR: Valve now requires UK users to verify their age with a credit card to access mature content games on Steam, complying with the UK's Online Safety Act. https://www.theverge.com/... #law #tech #legaltech ⚖️ 🤖 #autosum Forums: r/LibDem : Steam Support :: Age Assurance under the UK Online Safety Act r/europe : Steam users in the UK will need a credit card to access ‘mature content’ games r/unitedkingdom : Steam users in the UK will need a credit card to access “mature content” games Msmash / Slashdot : Steam Users in the UK Will Need a Credit Card To Access ‘Mature Content’ Games See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
UK platforms have been moving from policy commitments to operational age gates: Reddit began checking UK users before certain mature content, while Bluesky limited accounts that did not complete age verification. Steam extends that compliance pattern into a major PC game storefront.
The implementation debate is now about the verification method as much as the gate itself. Valve’s card-based approach avoids the selfie-based route used by some services, even as users test VPNs, synthetic IDs, and other workarounds against UK checks.
First-order effects
- UK Steam users must register a credit card before they can view store pages for mature-content games.
- Valve adopts an age-check flow that it says does not send user data to third parties, rather than permitting selfie-based verification for this access.
Second-order effects
- Steam’s UK storefront now carries an extra access step that can reduce immediate discoverability of mature games for users who do not complete verification.
- The reported evasion attempts around UK age gates put pressure on platforms to balance low-friction checks with controls that are difficult to bypass.
Third-order effects
- Age assurance is becoming a product-design and privacy-choice issue across content platforms: services may differentiate through cards, IDs, facial checks, or other methods while meeting the same access mandate.
- If enforcement and circumvention continue in parallel, UK access-control rules could produce a recurring cycle of stricter verification flows and new privacy scrutiny over how platforms validate age.
The trend: The UK’s Online Safety Act is turning age assurance into a standard access-control layer across social, community, and digital-content platforms.