Steam Now Requires Australian Users to Have a Credit Card to Purchase R18+ Games

Valve has rolled out 18+ age verification for Australian Steam users to comply with legal requirements, which carry fines of up to AU$50 million. While both PlayStation and Xbox have previously introduced age verification methods with multiple options, Valve currently restricts its verification process to a single method: users must own a credit card. Regular bank debit cards do not work for this verification process.

This requirement aligns with the rationale that Australians must be 18 to qualify for a credit card, whereas teenagers can own debit cards. However, this restriction presents complications for adults who may not qualify for a credit card due to insufficient income, failure to meet a bank's credit assessment criteria, poor credit history, or personal preference against utilizing credit systems. Users who fall into these categories are currently blocked from purchasing R18+ video games on the platform.

Attempting to view store pages for restricted content yields a message from Valve stating that the platform is required by the Age-Restricted Material App Distribution Services Code to verify that users are 18 or older using a valid Australian credit card before accessing mature content and updating mature content preferences. Despite these restrictions, online observations indicate that users can still purchase Steam keys for R18+ titles from third-party vendors such as Fanatical and Green Man Gaming and redeem them on Steam. Valve has been contacted regarding whether additional age verification methods will be implemented for Australian users in the future.