Steam Needs Your Credit Card To Verify Your Age

As a direct result of the UK’s Online Safety Act, Valve is now requiring all users in the United Kingdom to verify their age using a credit card. Yes, this includes accounts that have been in existence for 20 years.

“Ofcom’s guidance on the OSA states that one highly effective age assurance measure is credit card checks,” Valve says. “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.”

According to Valve, here’s what users will need to do to make sure their account is compliant:

User process

1. Log into your Steam user account.
2. Visit the Account Details page and click the button labeled “Add a Payment method to this account”.
3. You will be redirected to a form where you are asked to enter your credit card details. Required inputs:
   • Credit Card type
   • Credit card number
   • CVV
   • Expiry date
   • Name and billing address
4. Click “Continue” to trigger a £0 authorization.
5. You will be presented with a challenge that is determined by your card issuing bank’s policies, e.g. via one-time-password (OTP) or via app.
6. If the process is successful, you can now choose to add previously unavailable mature content types on the Store Preferences page.

What Is The UK’s Online Safety Act And How Does It Effect Games?

Passed by the British Parliament in 2023, the Online Safety Act aims to regulate online content to prevent children from accessing content deemed harmful or illegal. Despite being passed two years ago, it’s only now being enforced by the current government, though it comes with plenty of criticism.

The concern for many is that these laws and requirements are seen as shifting the responsibility to parents. Yes, protecting children, especially online, is important, but doing so through draconian censorship that could open the door for substantial overreach by tech companies is not the answer.

In response to the law’s enforcement, there has been a significant rise in interest in VPN services in the UK to bypass age verification requirements.

Valve isn’t the first gaming company to require compliance with the UK’s Online Safety Act. Xbox, Sony, and Discord are also doing the same, although Valve is the only company that requires a credit card.