Steam has added a second way for Australians to prove their age: accounts that are at least nine years old and have a consistent email address or billing record now count as verified automatically.
When Steam first rolled out age verification in Australia to comply with local law, it depended on whether you had a credit card linked to your account. Many Australians do not. Overnight, anyone without a card lost access to R18+ games in the store, Doom among them. Valve's support page now says Steam "will automatically consider your account age verified if it is at least nine years old and has had a consistent email address or billing information." Adding a credit card still works as before.
The condition is easy to trip over. Age alone is not enough, and the wording asks for a stable email or billing record. Anyone who told Steam about a move in the last nine years may not have a consistent billing history. Someone who also changed their email address in that time may not either. Newer accounts get nothing from the change.
Valve appears to know this. It said it understands "not all Australians will be able to verify their age using our existing options," and that it is looking into other ways to comply "while also limiting the data we collect and store from users."
The rest of the market has taken different routes. Other storefronts offer ID scans and face scans through the age-assurance company Yoti. The Microsoft Store looks at your email account through VerifyMy, the same provider YouTube uses. Steam's new rule is closest to that email-based approach, except that it draws on the account's own history rather than a third party's check.
The open question is what Valve adds next. It has said it wants to limit data collection, but it has not said which method it is considering, and the gap for newer accounts without a card remains.