Valve has miffed off stacks of Australian gamers with a recent Steam policy change that demands they have a credit card to verify their age to purchase 18+ rated games. This update comes in the wake of new legislation that could see Valve fined tens of millions of dollars if they don’t comply, so from a business perspective, it’s absolutely necessary.
But for the consumer, it means that scores of gamers are locked out of buying these adult-rated titles. Having a credit card is the only way to verify your age, and other traditional means simply don’t work. That’s because, in Australia, you must be 18 years old to get a credit card. Again, it kind of makes sense.
Australian Gamers Rage at Valve
If you try to purchase an 18+ rated game on Steam without having verified your age in Australia, you’ll be met with the following message:
Valve is required by the Age-Restricted Material App Distribution Services Code to verify that you are 18 or older before accessing mature content. If you wish to do so, please add a valid Australian credit card to your account and afterwards update the Mature Content Preferences.
While you can work around the blocker by using third-party reseller sites to purchase your game keys, it’s not an ideal solution.
The nature of the system prevents many gamers from verifying their age, and it might be totally out of their control. Not everyone wants or can get a credit card, for many reasons. It’s a single point of failure for the Valve storefront.
What’s more concerning is that you can’t play 18+ rated games that you already own if you haven’t proven your age with a credit card.
On social media, Australian gamers kicked back against the revelation. One wrote, ‘On top of our out of touch classification board, it’s nice to be treated like someone who can’t put one foot in front of the other.’
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Another said: ‘So basically, I can’t see any remotely mature game on my 20-odd-year-old account because I’m financially sound enough to not have a credit card?’
Another echoed that sentiment: ‘I literally don’t own a credit card; I have no desire to have one for my own protection. I have had my Steam account for over 15 years. The f*** am I supposed to do?’
Have you been impacted by the age verification change in Australia? Let us know your thoughts about this on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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