Valve Corporation’s Steam credit card-based age verification requirement has been deemed a violation of the Australian government’s policy.
During a recent public forum, the Australian Government eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant was asked about the “unreasonable” credit card-based age verification requirement on Steam (via manfightdragon on Twitter/X). In response, she agreed that the requirement doesn’t meet the fairness bar that Valve has laid out in the head code terms. “You may have seen that we did a much more comprehensive transparency report around a number of online gaming systems,” she said. “We looked at Roblox, we looked at Minecraft, we looked at Fortnite as part of Epic Games, and then Valve and Steam.”
According to Grant, Steam had fewer safety interventions than the other online gaming platforms. When pointed out that Valve blames the Australian Government eSafety for the situation, she replied by saying that the Steam was the only platform that wasn’t part of the process of developing a code of conduct. “All they had to do was read the guidance that the game industry themselves built,” she pointed out. “We have reached out to them and told them that we think it’s problematic, and that people are effectively blocked from being able to use their platforms.” Valve has since told the Australian Government eSafety that it will be looking at alternative methods, but failed to provide specific dates as to when they’ll be implemented.
If Valve doesn’t change its stance on allowing users other ways besides credit cards to provide heir identity, the Australian Government eSafety reserves the right to issue the company a direction to comply.
In September, 2026, Valve introduced a requirement for Australian users to verify their age using a credit card to access R18+ content on Steam. The restriction has raised concerns among users who don’ have access to credit cards, including adults who rely on debit cards or other payment methods.
