Overview

• UK Steam users must add a valid credit card to view mature-rated store pages and related community hubs.
• Existing accounts with a saved card retain access, and no alternative age-verification method is available.
• Valve says the credit card approach maximizes user privacy and deters account sharing used to bypass checks.
• The move aligns with UK age-assurance rules as other platforms use selfie or ID verification and Xbox plans mandatory checks for some social features in early 2026.
• Recent UK rollouts have driven workarounds like VPN use, leading rival services to update face-scanning tools after early bypasses.