this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2026
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Steam Age Check Locks Out 65% of Adult Australians [2026] (tech-insider.org)
submitted 6 days ago by eremophila@lemmy.zip to c/australia@aussie.zone
68 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

"Steam started blocking Australian users from viewing or buying 18+ rated games on September 9, 2026, unless they attach a valid credit card to their account. Valve’s rollout affects hundreds of mature-rated titles, including Cyberpunk 2077 and Doom Eternal, and it doesn’t matter whether the account is brand new or fifteen years old with a library full of paid-for adult games. Without a credit card on file, those store pages, search results, and even home-page recommendations simply disappear."

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[–] eremophila@lemmy.zip 10 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Details seem to be a bit all over the place on the internet (business as usual), even though this is a week old.

Some are suggesting that:

  • MA15 games are also blocked (I don't believe that is true though?)

  • This also blocks the reinstallation of existing purchases (a very big deal if so)

  • Mastercard debit cards work, but visa debit cards do not work

  • The big 4 dirty banks work, but the others do not

[–] Zarobi@aussie.zone 9 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I've tested this myself with these results

  • MA15 is ok
  • Reinstallation of Witcher 3 is ok
  • MasterCard and Visa both do not work.
  • Visiting the Steam store page for Witcher 3 is blocked for me.

When I contacted Steam support they said specifically only "credit cards" being on file is supported. However, they indicated they would be adding additional verification methods in the future.

If people are finding success with specific debit banks and debit cards, I'm more likely to believe that is an unintended bug or something strange going on than an intended feature.

[–] eremophila@lemmy.zip 3 points 5 days ago

The bug thing/half-arsed implementation seems very likely. Someone also mentioned something about different banks using different age verification levels/systems, and that potentially having something to do with it. Too many guesses involved though.

[–] zero_gravitas@aussie.zone 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)
  • This also blocks the reinstallation of existing purchases (a very big deal if so)

I've checked this. I was able to install an already-owned R18+ game with no problems. I can't view its store page.

  • MA15 games are also blocked (I don’t believe that is true though?)

Not as far as I've seen. The Witcher is MA15+, and I can view its store page.

That's all just my experience, though. Maybe other people are having a different experience, but I suggest people try for themselves instead of accepting worst case scenarios people are saying online.

[–] eremophila@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 days ago

Good to know about reinstallation.

I checked roughly 10 games on my wishlist and could view all of them. The details re: game rating seem to be obscure on steam, it's not something I have looked for before.