As a response to the enforcement of the UK Online Safety Act (spotted by VGC ), Valve has begun requesting and requiring that UK players verify their age if they want to access any content pages marked as 'mature' on the platform.

Unlike other age verification processes we've started to see that rely on AI tools , Valve is taking a simpler approach, and enforcing age verification through users inputting their credit card on Steam. A support page outlining how it'll work explains that this route was chosen due to UK regulations around needing to be 18 years of age to have a credit card in your name, and because " this process preserves the maximum degree of user privacy ."

Users online began to notice this was in effect as of last Friday, according to VGC, though if you're over 18

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