UK Steam users with adult-aged accounts are still expected to provide credit card verification as part of Valve's compliance drive

Steam has launched new age-verification measures for users from the UK across the board, but at least one UK-based user has found themselves in a somewhat laughable situation. Steam user Christina Tasty reported on X that her account, which has been active for 19 years, was one of those prompted to verify if she was over 18. 

Valve recently rolled out a credit-card age verification system tied to the UK’s Online Safety Act. Christina Tasty posted screenshots showing a verification prompt when she tried to play a game that she had already owned. To add further fuel to the fire, she also showed her profile badge, which stated “19 Years of Service”.

On August 29, 2025, the user stated, “Steam is now prompting me to prove I’m over 18. My account is 19 years old.” The post quickly grew viral with over 286,000 likes and 9,000 reposts, with over a million views.

The Steam community on X hopped onto the bandwagon, sharing their own account ages, with some users having more than two decades on the platform. Many have resorted to blaming the UK’s somewhat rigid legislation requirements rather than Valve for the inconvenience caused.

The age verification prompt is due to Valve’s recent compliance with the UK Online Safety Act, which was passed in 2023, and gradually enforced to protect underage teens from accessing mature content on the platform. 

UK Steam users are now required to add a valid UK credit card to their accounts to access store pages, community hubs, or games featuring mature themes. UK credit card holders are not charged for the authorization process.

It must be noted that Valve has grappled with various alternatives to find a proper age verification before settling on credit card verification for the UK, as citizens of the island nation are only issued credit cards once they turn 18.

Valve claims that this method preserves user privacy, as it uses the same data handling as regular purchasing and avoids sharing user data with third parties or employing potentially invasive techniques like facial recognition.

However, many UK gamers are frustrated owing to the fact that debit cards are not accepted for verification, as approximately only 60% of UK adults own a credit card at the time of writing.

Valve has also recently shifted its content policies on Steam, including the removal of certain adult games from the platform due to payment restrictions from payment processors like Visa and Mastercard, which have been met with a considerable amount of user feedback decrying it as an overreach by said platforms.