Update 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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You can also find comments for this article on social media: They should start selling special 18+ versions of their steam wallet cards in shops.
You could easily sell those underhandedly to minors. Sure, you could also give away your credit card information, but you'd be quite an idiot to do so.
That's exactly what the Steam employee told me.
I want to point out that buying 51% of a company's stock makes you its largest shareholder and sole decision-maker...
And as you can read below, PayPal Holdings Inc has indeed authorized a buyout plan (article published on February 4, 2025)
Well that Steam eployee lied to you then. Yes buying up 51% of the votes (not the stock, but the votes) gains you veto power at shareholder meetings but there have been no such bid made on Paypal and 80% of the votes are held by long term investors (read institutions) so you cannot get 51% by silently buying up stocks from the exchange either (aka the free float is less than 20%).
When it comes to your link your AI translation translated it wrongly into French. That news item had nothing to do with authorizing any buyout plan (a board cannot even make such an authorization, what the board can do is give their recommendation for or against a buyout offer, also such a offer must have been made public before the board can make any recommendation and since there exists not such offer there also exists no recommendation).
No what that news item was about was the board launching a share buyback program worth $15bn.
Last edited by F.Ultra on 31 Aug 2025 at 9:04 pm UTC
I don't see the point in credit cards, nor do I want to own one. At the same time, I don't see the point in pron games, and I'm not sure how many non-pron games that have an 18+ rating on Steam also have a Linux version, soooo I'm not sure this will affect me in any case. I'm still mad that I'm subject to arbitrary controls because the government says I should be though. Fuck those guys.
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