Steam UK users will now need a credit card to access mature content due to the Online Safety Act

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