Valve has made a new change that isn’t going over well in Australia.
As reported by Australian outlet Press Start, Valve has added 18+ age verification on Steam for the country. Australia recently passed its own Online Safety Act, and like the UK and other countries and regions, their law added new rules for video game companies to follow.
Valve decided to require Australian Steam users to include their credit card to verify their age. Unfortunately, this makes using Steam prohibitively difficult, to the point that many will stop making purchases on their platform.
PlayStation, XBOX, and even fellow PC platform Epic Game Store have easier options for age verification. They will take face scans, and in XBOX’s case, they will just take the age of your Microsoft account as proof.
As we’ve found online, multiple Steam users are calling foul in Australia. Credit cards are uncommon in Australia, and for some reason Valve won’t accept debit cards.
One Steam user has even turned Gabe Newell’s words against him. If piracy is a service issue, in this instance Steam isn’t providing a better service. Because of Steam’s strict requirements, piracy is easier for Australian gamers again.
