Valve Complies with UK’s Online Safety Act
Valve has begun to adhere to the UK’s Online Safety Act by implementing a new age verification system that requires all British users to register a credit card to access “mature content” pages and games on Steam. Users without a valid credit card will be restricted from accessing community hubs for mature content games, reports 24brussels.
This move follows the trend set by other platforms such as Reddit and Discord, which have opted for age verification through selfies. However, Valve limits its age verification process strictly to the use of credit cards, asserting that “among all age assurance mechanisms reviewed by Valve, this process preserves the maximum degree of user privacy.” The presence of a credit card stored on a Steam account serves as a deterrent against sharing accounts to circumvent age verification.
In the UK, individuals must be 18 years of age to obtain a credit card, thus shifting the responsibility for age checks from Valve to banking institutions. Consequently, users without credit cards will find themselves barred from accessing any mature content on Steam, as no alternative age verification method is available.
This policy shift occurs amid revelations that recent age-gating regulations in the UK are relatively easy to bypass, particularly through the use of VPNs. For instance, methods employed by platforms such as Discord have experienced challenges, prompting updates to prevent workarounds.
In tandem with Valve’s implementation, Microsoft has initiated its own age verification measures for Xbox in the UK. Initially optional, these checks are expected to become mandatory for access to various Xbox services by early 2026 as more provisions of the Online Safety Act come into effect.
