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PayPalUpdate 29/08/25 - 16:59 UTC: since there's reports of it still working even with a Debit Card and not just a Credit Card (they're different in the UK), I've asked Valve if they have any comments on this. Since in the UK, even a preteen can get a Debit Card.
Update #2 - 19:33 UTC - Valve press replied to GamingOnLinux to confirm allowing Debit Cards for verification was a bug, which has now been solved.
Valve recently put up a new support page, detailing the steps they've taken to comply with the UK Online Safety Act.
The UK Online Safety Act has a rather broad scope, and has been the cause of many changes not just for UK citizens but people worldwide as more and more websites realise they're in scope of the act and have to make changes. It covers all sorts of thing from porn to community forums and more. And yes, that even includes video games too (which many developers likely aren't even aware of). If a video game has user to user communication (voice / text chat) and it's available in the UK, the developer will need to comply with it.
The likes of Reddit, Bluesky, Discord, Xbox and more have already rolled out verification systems.
To comply with it, Valve will now be requiring users from the UK to have a valid credit card stored on their account. Valve will do a direct check (that costs £0 to users) using their own internal payment processing system "which is independently certified under the PCI-DSS standard".
If you don't do this you won't be able to access "Steam store pages for mature content games as well as their associated community hubs".
In the UK, you have to be at least 18 to have a credit card, so this way does make a lot of sense - as you'll already be age verified if you have a credit card in your name. Valve additionally say that "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".
Valve feel this way "preserves the maximum degree of user privacy" as the data they will process during this is no different to simply making a purchase on Steam. It's also only required if you've specifically opted into seeing mature content on Steam.
Source: Valve
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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If a credit card is good enough, those should also do fine.
Last edited by emphy on 29 Aug 2025 at 4:10 pm UTC
Kimyrielle 7 hours ago
But geesh, remember when we used to look down on certain non-Western countries with intrusive mass-surveillance programs, and called them "unfree"?
Last edited by sonic2kk on 29 Aug 2025 at 3:05 pm UTC
Liam Dawe 
7 hours ago
Actually, if the check doesn't cost anything can't kids just steal their parent's credit card?
Last edited by GoEsr on 29 Aug 2025 at 4:31 pm UTC
Linux_Rocks 6 hours ago
sonic2kk: Heads up that a debit card also works fine, if you don't have a credit card. Although it bills you £1, rather than presumably £0 for a Credit Card. emoji
Confirmed. Debit card works here, too! Good news as I no longer have a credit card
What happens when you've got poor credit and no active credit cards? Like if you lose a job due to no fault of your own, can't pay your bills anymore, and that tanks your credit?
... or if you just don't want a credit card, like me.
Last edited by Eike on 29 Aug 2025 at 6:45 pm UTC
Liam Dawe 5 hours ago
What happens when you've got poor credit and no active credit cards? Like if you lose a job due to no fault of your own, can't pay your bills anymore, and that tanks your credit?
Pull yourself up by your bootstraps !
/S
CanadianBlueBeer 5 hours ago
just block the UK period.
(it's a stupid law IMHO, and it's gonna bite them on the backside at some point)
(after a data breach. you **know** that's gonna happen)
Just check, my steam acct is 16 now. :D
Edit: Looks like they've added an additional check, so debit cards don't work now. It only applies to Adult-Only games anyway, stuff like CyberPunk 2077 and Far Cry 3 with nudity are unaffected, just porn games.
Last edited by GoEsr on 29 Aug 2025 at 6:32 pm UTC
can we go back to the early 2000's late 1990's please.
Philadelphus 3 hours ago
with a Debit Card and not just a Credit Card (they're different in the UK)Are they not different everywhere? A debit card lets you access money in a specific bank account, a credit card extends a loan that can be more than you have available to cover it at the time.
Shame they don't use Nexus Mods' technique and use the age of the account.I see a few problems there; while an old account may signify an old user*, a young account does not necessarily signify a young user – a 50-year-old could get a Steam account for the first time this year.
*And even this may not be the case as people pass on their old Steam accounts to their kids/younger relations (yes I know it's against Valve's terms and conditions, I also know that doesn't stop it happening). Or people could simply start selling old accounts, like iPhones with Flappy Bird installed on them.
Liam Dawe 3 hours ago
'Solved' feels like it needs very heavy quotation marks around it, but I digress. If the UK govt. really is going to stick with this, they need to actually roll out some kind of national ID system
Although widely used in various European countries, the UK has been historically icky about implementing national(ist) Identity card. Typically for civil liberties reasons.
Of course a physical 'card' is now outmoded, & we could expect a mandatory proprietary Andriod / IOS Identification 'App' with all the associated tracking. Yes it will be easier to update your facial / bio metric identity using an app and also verify yourself in a variety of interesting and useful ways. there comes with it a list of ridiculously evil possibilities of course.
Still, i expect were only a year or two away from this. Five at best.
Last edited by Lofty on 29 Aug 2025 at 8:41 pm UTC
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