Valve has began to adjust to the UK’s On-line Security Act, by rolling out a requirement for all Brits to confirm their age with a bank card to entry “mature content material” pages and video games on Steam. UK customers gained’t even have the ability to entry the group hubs of mature content material video games until a sound bank card is saved on a Steam account.
Whereas platforms like Reddit, Bluesky, and Discord have opted for age verification checks utilizing selfies, Valve is proscribing its age checks to simply bank cards. “Amongst all age assurance mechanisms reviewed by Valve, this course of preserves the utmost diploma of person privateness,” says Valve in a support article. “Having the bank card saved as a cost methodology acts as an extra deterrent in opposition to circumventing age verification by sharing a single Steam person account amongst a number of individuals.”
Within the UK you’ll want to be 18 years of age to acquire a bank card, so this passes the age checks onto banks as an alternative of Valve having to carry out them. For those who don’t have a bank card then you definately gained’t have the ability to entry mature content material video games or pages on Steam, as there’s no different manner of verifying your age.
Microsoft has additionally began rolling out Xbox age verification within the UK. Whereas the age verification checks are elective proper now, they may turn out to be a requirement to entry a wide range of Xbox companies in early 2026, when further components of the UK’s On-line Security Act come into force.