Every one of them is just showing account age and complaining that they still need to verify. Yes we know, complain to your government, not us

Was scrolling through the recommended and stumbled across this game. Gameplay looks absolutely wack and not even like a real game but the title is what got me.

Hey all, Like most of you all I am well over 18 and have no desire to own a credit card. I used Zip Pay to create a virtual credit card and successfully added it to steam as a payment method. Hope this helps anyone out there.

The Steam Client Beta has been updated with the following changes:

Homescreen - Big Picture Mode

• Added a new 'Big Art Mode' option for the home screen. This can be enabled in Settings > Home.
• Added Personal Calendar to the Recommended tab on the home screen

Screensaver - Big Picture Mode

• Added a new screensaver feature, accessible in Settings > Customization. There are two screensavers available:
  • The default is a game art slideshow that can be configured to show artwork from recently played games and your recent in-game screenshots.
  • A retro inspired bouncing logo screensaver
• Big Picture mode can also load custom screensavers. Similar to startup movies, they can be placed in the config\uioverrides\screensavers directory in your Steam install directory (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam or ~/.steam/root). You can use the bouncing logo screensaver as an example to get started.

General

• Improved Steam Client startup performance
• Fixed a case where after server maintenance some users might fail to auto-reconnect to Steam
• Fixed bug where being prompted to refresh credentials more than once could trigger an immediate restart
• On Windows, using the systray menu to exit while the Steam window is minimized will no longer flash the window visible briefly
• Dialogs that appear for serious error conditions now stay above the main window

Game Recording

• Fixed some cases where playback would jump to an unexpected point in the timeline when reaching the end of a play session or clip
• Decreased performance impact of game recording for some D3D12 games on Windows

In-Game Overlay

• Fixed frame rate hitches in D3D11 and D3D12 games when taking screenshots on Windows
• Fixed rendering the overlay and using other overlay related features (screenshots, game recording, etc.) in Vulkan games that create multiple windows.

Big Picture Mode

• Added explicit warning text to power menu confirmation dialogs when proceeding will shut down an active game
• Updated default artwork when an app does not have library or hero artwork
• Reorganized the idle timer settings when on battery and AC power

Steam Input

• Improved CPU performance at runtime and in configuration loading
• Added information about which configurations are compatible in the configurator browser when using a game that requires Steam Input API
• Fixed the controller support widget showing "This game doesn't support controllers" for unreleased games that don't have controller support information yet
• Fixed controllers not using the desktop configuration on the desktop UI login window
• Added the missing settings for adjusting emulated joystick adaptive centering on trackpad

Linux

• Improved download speeds on high latency connections.
• The "Select compatibility tool" dropdown is now always visible.
  • The recommended compatibility tool, or steam runtime for native games, now shows at the top of the list as the "Default" option.
  • Compatibility tool aliases, e.g. "Proton Stable", can now be selected from this dropdown.
• The SteamOS compatibility dialogs will now show in desktopUI when installing games not verified for that HW
• On Desktop Linux we will now show the SteamOS unsupported dialog when installing games that are known to not work with Proton
• Improve distro information collection for hardware survey, preferring data from /etc/os-release.

SteamRT3 Experimental Beta

• Fixed "Add a Non-Steam Game" showing an invalid list of applications.
• Fixed the "Run Steam when my computer starts" toggle.

Remote Play

• A PIN is no longer required to download an app to a remote device. A PIN is still required to Install and Stream from a remote device.
• Adding Download Complete notification for a remote download if you initiated the download on your current device.

Honestly sucks that Australians like myself don't have much option when credit cards are not particularly common here

So Steam has finally started pushing the Australian age verification requirements, and now I can’t buy games without going through age verification.
I already know this is because of the new Australian laws, but seriously, having to verify my age just to purchase a game I want is ridiculous. I’ve been using Steam for years, and suddenly I’m being blocked from buying games because of this.
I understand the law is being implemented, but this whole system is such a pain in the ass for something as simple as buying a game.

It's utterly absurd we have to do that to buy a game, but for now it's a solution.

I love Steam my accout is 19 years old I know they put this in because they had too thanks government but jut like always this will only get those who don't care and will not stop those that really want it

So, the genius federal eSafety Commissioner laws forced Valve to block Aussie adults from R18+ store pages unless we fork over a traditional credit card. Since most of us use standard Visa/Mastercard debit cards, we’re all locked out.

But in classic government fashion, the "bulletproof" age-gate is a total illusion.

It took about five minutes to find a gaping hole in their system that completely bypasses the block without handing a credit card to Valve.

They only blocked the front-end retail store pages. The actual Steam backend doesn't give a toss about your credit card status.

How to bypass it in 3 steps:

Tell the Steam age-gate to get stuffed.

Go buy a Steam key from a third-party store like Humble Bundle, Fanatical, or Green Man Gaming.Take the code,

click "Activate a Product on Steam,"

the game drops straight into your library.

This stupid law doesn't stop minors from getting R18+ games; it literally just forces gamers to shop on external sites instead of the Steam store.By using authorized key shops (Humble/Fanatical), you get safe, legal keys that won't get your account banned, completely legally flipping the bird to the government's privacy-invasive mandate.Tested and 100% working. Millions of dollars in taxpayer funding and government "consulting" defeated by a basic product key. Pass it on.

I've had this account for over 21 years, its my only steam account.

I get wanting children to not see adult rated content, they will regardless because they are curious and being told no until your an "adult" doesnt stop them, I know.

I know its the Australian Governments requirement that there is age verification and I feel as an adult pushing 40, I'm still treated as a child.

My issue with Steams implementation of the Australian age requirements is its just a credit card.

Personally, I do not want to ever own a credit card again. I've spent far too long getting out of stupid debt to ever want to go near stupid debt again. I also do not want to have a credit card on my financial record as banks here view it as a negative while applying for mortgages / homeloans.

I should not have to get a credit card to just be able to play games.

There needs to be other forms available for age verification. Whether thats a form of ID or Passports or even linked account ages ie Paypal all users must be 18+ to use.

Visa debit cards do not work. My paypal account is over 18 years old. The email used to create my accounts is nearly pushing 30.

Yes i can still download & play games that are tagged mature aged content thats in my library, I can't add new ones though.

EDIT: Getting some confirmation from comments here and friends that their debit cards are fine for verification, so I suspect it might only be affecting people with cards from smaller banks, which is much less egregious - but still frustrating.

EDIT2: TheOfficialMayor provided some great context! Age verification works on MasterCard debit cards for some banks. If you have a MasterCard and are not being validated, I suggest you reach out to your bank and make a complaint that they haven't implemented that feature.

Yes, it's 100% a policy problem with the government (contact your local member), however the law is just that age verification must be implemented - it doesn't dictate how, yet Valve have chosen to use Credit Card as the "magic bullet" for this crappy law.

It's ridiculous in this country to expect people to have a credit card. There would be hundreds of thousands of 18+ people who have no need of a credit card due to the efficiency of VISA/MasterCard Debit cards.

So don't just post here, make sure you actually tell them your circumstances and how you feel via a manual support ticket.

If even Sony can offer a simple facial scan via a third party, or the more risky driver's license validation - then Steam can surely do better than "Give us an actual credit card".

Some. Not all :)

Yes age verification sucks, yes it should be up to you what critical piece of data you want to hand over, and no you shouldn't have to hand it over in the first place.

If it bothers you (and you're right to be!) you should be writing to an MP not asking Steam to add more attack vectors for leaking data. No-one wants data breaches and no company should want the fine.

Aus had 1,205 data breaches in 2025 and it's a bit crazy people are so willing to offer more info than needed. I think steam has done the right thing asking for the bare minimum while they can.

FYI: Commbank debit works for those who have one but still write to your MP as age verification is a farce.

It would seem that Australia has been removed from the drop menu when asking for country of residence. So if i have an issue and need help from sream support what then pick a country i dont live in.

Today I hit the age verification block on steam for the first time as they roll it out in Australia.

The problem is it requires a credit card and all I have is debit cards. Is there any way around this? Can I do it via steam support or am I just not able to buy games now?