Steam could be easing up on its long-standing mature content warnings. For years, players have had to re-enter their birthdate every time they visited an M-rated game page, even if they've been using the same account for over a decade.
Evidence suggests that in 2025, Valve is testing a barely noticeable change that might have a big effect on the user experience.
Is Steam Finally Getting Rid of the Repetitive Age Checks?
The first sign was a Reddit post from RealisticRoll6882 showing a new prompt to disable mature game age verification forever.
Users no longer had to input their birthdate every time they clicked on a violent or adult-themed game because the popup could remember their age and bypass future warnings.
That basic change went viral right away. Tens of thousands upvoted the Reddit post, while hundreds of users chimed in with their own stories or puzzled over why it wasn't showing for them. For some, the change worked. For others, nothing had changed at all.
Why Are Only Some Steam Users Seeing This?
As of now, there's no official word from Valve, and the feature doesn't appear to be universally available.
click to enlarge
+ 2One common belief is that it only shows up for accounts that are at least 18 years old. Some suggest it's specific to users in the European Union, where new digital accessibility laws have just taken effect.
The European Accessibility Act that started in June requires platforms to cut down on repeated tasks like asking users to confirm the same input multiple times.
If Steam is acting on that law, it could explain why only certain users—likely in the EU—are noticing the change.
This issue is not only annoying but also outdated. If a platform can track someone's hours played, purchase history, and in-game achievements, it shouldn't keep forgetting how old they are.
Why Is This Such a Big Deal for Steam Users?
Skipping the birthdate check might seem like a minor perk, but for millions on Steam, it hints that Valve is addressing long-ignored frustrations in how the platform works.
click to enlarge+ 2Above all, this means Steam is starting to address global accessibility laws and add quality-of-life updates that users have been hoping for. Of course, legal constraints still apply.
The ESRB and similar agencies require platforms to confirm the actual user's age, not only the age of the account owner. That's why Steam has traditionally treated every session as a blank slate.
But considering how easy it is to fake a birthdate anyway, many feel this system does more to frustrate than protect. For now, this age check opt-out looks like a test feature, running quietly and perhaps only in specific locations.
But even if it's not out for everyone yet, it shows Valve is at least considering these issues and might update how Steam deals with age-restricted content. For long-time users, this update has been a long time coming. Now they just want to know one thing: will Steam finally remember they're not 12?
Stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com: the best site for Steam coverage.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Gaming News and Steam page.