Valve carried out age verification for Australian Steam customers earlier this month, which was inevitable: Australian regulation calls for it. Sadly, Valve has opted for probably the most brute pressure, user-negligent method doable. To purchase R18+ video games on Steam in Australia—to even entry their retailer pages—it’s worthwhile to present a bank card.
The issue being that almost all Australians do not use bank cards. This research of client fee behaviour by the Reserve Financial institution of Australia bears this out: the share of funds made in Australia with credit score or card fees in 2025 was 23% (versus debit playing cards at 49%).
That is in stark distinction with the US the place, in line with Bankrate, 74% of adults personal a bank card (and practically half of these are in debt!).
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I am unsure if Valve did its analysis: maybe it did and it does not care. Slightly than create the infrastructure to deal with age verification on Steam, or pay a contractor to do it, it is in all probability simpler for Valve to let Australian clients be indignant about it. I’ve acquired emails from Australian banks flummoxed by the sudden rush of inbound buyer calls about this coverage. One requested me, slightly desperately: has Valve hinted at the opportunity of different verification strategies? (Do marmots eat Coco Pops for breakfast? Valve will not trace: sooner or later it will simply all of a sudden occur.)
I’ve reached out to Valve on this matter however not heard again. So what to do within the meantime? The one choice you actually have in the intervening time is to take your online business elsewhere, or purchase Steam codes from professional third-party sellers.
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However how do different shopfronts deal with age verification? I provide the under recommendation to not aide younger’uns of their want to play Doom Everlasting, however to assist precise adults who do not have a bank card. And, after all, the alternate options under aren’t assured to inventory all R18+ video games, with GTA 5 being an particularly notable instance.
Let’s take a look:
No bank card required PC gaming shopfronts
No bank card required PC gaming key sellers
At time of writing, third-party key sellers Fanatical and Inexperienced Man Gaming do not immediate Australians to show their age when buying R18+ video games. That is good, however whether or not Fanatical or Inexperienced Man Gaming are literally promoting the R18+ video games you need is one other matter: each are promoting, for instance, Metallic Gear Stable: Grasp Assortment Vol. 2, however neither promote Grand Theft Auto 5.
Can I exploit a VPN to purchase R18+ video games on Steam?
Valve’s subscriber settlement may be very clear about this: utilizing a VPN to purchase R18+ video games in Australia with out verifying your age can lead to account termination.
“You agree that you’ll not use IP proxying or different strategies to disguise the place of your residence, whether or not to bypass geographical restrictions on sport content material, to order or buy at pricing not relevant to your geography, or for every other objective,” the settlement reads.
“If you happen to do that, Valve could terminate your entry to your Account.”
