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Steam Age Check Locks Out 65% of Adult Australians [2026] (tech-insider.org)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/australia@aussie.zone
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"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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[–] 4 points 1 week ago (1 child)
  • 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.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 week 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.

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