Just a few days ago we reported on Microsoft bringing age verification to Xbox (here). Now, Valve is following suit, as Steam users in the United Kingdom will also be required to verify their age to access mature content on the platform.
The change went into effect on August 29, 2025, in compliance with the UK Online Safety Act, which demands that online platforms implement “highly effective” age assurance measures. As Valve explained in a Steam Support post, verification on Steam requires users to add a valid credit card to their account. Once successful, the account is considered “age verified” as long as that card remains linked.
Acording to the Steam support page: “In the UK, Ofcom is the independent regulator for online safety. Ofcom’s guidance on the OSA states that one highly effective age assurance measure is credit card checks. This is because, 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. Having the credit card stored as a payment method acts as an additional deterrent against circumventing age verification by sharing a single Steam user account among multiple persons.”
This comes after the same legislation already reshaped adult content access earlier this summer. Pornhub, one of the first platforms hit by the law, saw UK traffic drop almost 50% in the first two weeks after introducing mandatory ID, credit card, or facial scan verification, losing more than a million visits (here). Microsoft, as we mentioned before, also began rolling out its own system for Xbox accounts in July, with full enforcement expected in early 2026.
Valve stresses that the credit card method preserves user privacy, since the process runs internally through its certified payment system. No external parties access sensitive data, and only the age verification result is used to unlock mature content settings in the Steam Store and related community hubs.
For now, the requirement only applies to UK-based accounts. But given the precedent with Pornhub, Microsoft, and now Valve, it remains to be seen whether regulators in other regions will follow the same path, so stay tuned for further updates.
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