Gone are the days of being able to simply put in your birthday to access M-rated games on Steam in the UK. The platform has officially launched its measures to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act.
On Steam’s help page, the game marketplace shares instructions on using a credit card to verify your age, as in the UK, only something 18 or over can get one. The result of putting in the card info is a ยฃ0 authorization, which will then confirm you are 18 or over and unlock the previously hidden M-rated games.
The use of a credit card is a bit more palatable for some compared to the facial scans or sending over pictures of their government-issued ID through third-party services. This follows the Online Safety Act, a controversial bill aimed at making the internet safer by requiring age verification on sites that contain adult content.
This bill has hit services like X, Discord, any adult website, 4Chan, and pretty much any forum, which led to sites either pulling out of the country altogether or partnering with a service like Yoti to handle the verification process.
