Valve has confirmed that PayPal is no longer processing Steam transactions in numerous currencies worldwide. The payment restriction, which began in early July 2025, came after one of PayPal’s acquiring banks abruptly terminated support for Steam-related transactions, citing concerns over adult content available on the platform.
The payment block affects all Steam purchases made via PayPal in currencies other than USD, GBP, EUR, JPY, CAD, and AUD. This means players in many regions across South America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and other markets can no longer use PayPal to buy games, DLC, or other content on Steam.
In their official statement to RPS, Valve directly linked the issue to ongoing disputes about explicit content on the platform. “This situation regarding content on Steam is related to what we’ve previously commented on surrounding Mastercard,” the company explained, referencing earlier instances where the credit card giant pressured Steam about its adult game offerings.
Steam began allowing adult and sexually explicit games on its platform in 2018, after years of stricter content policies. This shift has periodically created friction with payment processors and financial institutions, which often have their own content guidelines regarding what types of transactions they’re willing to process.
For affected users, the options are limited but not entirely gone. Players can still use credit cards directly, regional payment methods where available, or purchase Steam Wallet codes from authorized retailers. Some users have reported success using third-party key resellers, though Valve doesn’t officially endorse these channels.
Money talks louder than gamers
This incident highlights the growing influence payment processors have over digital content platforms. When financial giants decide certain content crosses their comfort threshold, they can effectively cut off revenue streams for entire categories of products, forcing platforms to either change their content policies or lose access to payment methods.
While Valve hasn’t announced plans to remove adult content from Steam, this payment restriction creates significant pressure on their business model. Industry analysts speculate that Valve might be exploring alternatives, including potentially developing their own payment processing system, though such an undertaking would be enormously complex.
The currencies still supported by PayPal roughly correspond to regions where banks or payment processors have not implemented similar restrictions, suggesting the issue may be tied to regional regulatory pressures rather than a global policy shift.
