Over 3,000 Steam Users Call for New Quality of Life Feature

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Many Steam users are backing a proposal to simplify age verification on the popular gaming platform. This change could make it much faster and easier for adult gamers to browse and play. Steam is the world’s biggest PC gaming platform, with around 132 million players, and many are frustrated with repeated age checks, hoping for a better experience.

Steam has seen significant growth in recent years. By mid-November 2025, it had earned approximately $16.2 billion in revenue, surpassing the $10.8 billion it made the previous year, according to Alinea Analytics. Sales of the Steam Deck handheld computer have also been strong, reaching an estimated 3.7 to 4 million units since its February 2022 launch in North America and Europe, giving players another way to enjoy Steam games.

Steam Age Verification Change Idea Gets Big Community Support

Steam users are getting frustrated with constantly having to enter their birthdates to see age-restricted games. One Reddit user, SaveTheAles, suggested a solution that’s gained a lot of support – over 3,500 likes in just six hours! The idea is that Steam would automatically skip age verification for accounts that are already older than the minimum age for games. Because Steam accounts are free, personal, and tied to email addresses, anyone with an account older than 18 years wouldn’t be asked to verify their age again. This would be a simple improvement to make Steam more user-friendly.

Steam generally uses the same method for verifying ages worldwide, but it makes some changes to follow local laws. In many places, users just need to enter their birthday, but they have to do this every time they look at a game with an age restriction, even if they’ve already confirmed their age before. Some countries, like the United Kingdom, have stricter rules. Steam recently added a requirement for UK users to provide a valid credit card to comply with a new law.

Some people defend Steam’s current age verification system, arguing it’s important to protect children who might access accounts and potentially view inappropriate content, even if the account holder isn’t playing. However, many pointed out that sharing a Steam account violates Valve’s rules – they don’t even allow accounts to be inherited after someone passes away. Steam does offer a solution for families, though: the Family Sharing feature lets users share games with up to six other accounts.

Another worry is that Steam users might sell their game accounts, which breaks Steam’s rules. This has happened before – in 2020, a man in Poland was accused of over 9,000 crimes for selling accounts between 2014 and 2018. Despite these issues, some players want easier ways to prove their age, such as Steam saving their birthdate and automatically filling it in when age verification is needed.

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2025-12-11 05:04