https://www.pcgamer.com/games/steam-payment-headaches-grow-as-paypal-is-no-longer-usable-for-much-of-the-world-valve-hopes-to-bring-it-back-in-the-future-but-the-timeline-is-uncertain/ [] Skip to main content (*) ( ) Open menu Close menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES [ ] Search Search PC Gamer [ ] Sign in * * View Profile * Sign out Subscribe US Edition flag of US flag of UK UK flag of US US flag of Canada Canada flag of Australia Australia * * Games * Hardware * News * Reviews * Guides * Video * Forum * More + PC Gaming Show + Software + Movies & TV + Coupons + Magazine + Newsletter + Community guidelines + Affiliate links + Meet the team + About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? * Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag * Try a single issue or save on a subscription * Issues delivered straight to your door or device From$32.49 Subscribe now Popular * Essential Hardware * Battlefield 6 * Grounded 2 * PC Gamer quizzes! * AI Recommended reading Best sex games - Ladykiller in a Bind Platforms Valve confirms credit card companies pressured it to delist certain adult games from Steam KIEV, UKRAINE - 2020/01/24: In this photo illustration the Bank cards mastercard on computer keyboard. (Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Games Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down, but Valve says payment processors 'specifically cited' a Mastercard rule about damaging the brand A vampire holds an ace of hearts Platforms Steam's got a new rule that puts the kibosh on 'certain kinds of adult only content' that make Visa and Mastercard sad Itch.io assets page tagged with "no AI" Game Development Itch.io is 'actively reaching out to other payment processors' after pressure from credit card companies to curtail NSFW content, and that compared to Valve, it has 'limited ability to push back' NieR creator Yoko Taro in his trademark Emil mask from the games Game Development 'Dangerous on a whole new level'--while Steam's policy change is new, the shadow of credit card meddling has been looming for a while, with Nier: Automata's Yoko Taro sounding the alarm last year The scout, soldier, and heavy from TF2 Games Itch.io releases list of the adult content you can't put on its store anymore after anti-NSFW crackdown, including stuff that's not illegal but just icky A screenshot from Consume Me, an award-winning upcoming indie. Gaming Industry Itch.io deindexes NSFW games after becoming the latest target of skittish credit card companies and anti-porn group Collective Shout 1. Games Steam payment headaches grow as PayPal is no longer usable for much of the world: Valve hopes to bring it back in the future, 'but the timeline is uncertain' News By Andy Chalk published 13 August 2025 The problem first came to light about a month ago, but Valve has only now offered an explanation. * * * * * * * Comments (0) () When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's how it works. POLAND - 2023/02/01: In this photo illustration, a Paypal logo is displayed on a smartphone with stock market pricing in the background. (Photo Illustration by Omar Marques/SOPA Images/ LightRocket via Getty Images) (Image credit: Getty Images) Hassles with credit card processors over adult content isn't the only payment headache Steam is facing these days. Valve is also getting grief from PayPal, which is no longer being accepted as a form of payment in much of the world. Going by posts about the problem in the Steam subreddit, the issue was first reported about a month ago: Users attempting to pay for purchases in countries including Switzerland, Poland, Norway, and Mexico received a message saying Steam is "temporarily unable to process transactions with this payment method at this time," with no further explanation. paypal temporarily disabled since? from r/Steam The PayPal exclusion seemed to go largely unnoticed outside of discussions on the Steam subreddit, possibly because it seemed sporadic, and perhaps also because this was right around the time Steam got caught up in a kerfuffle with Visa and Mastercard over adult content on the platform. Valve delisted a substantial number of games after being notified that some of them "may violate the rules and standards set forth by our payment processors and their related card networks and banks." Indie-focused platform Itch.io later deindexed a number of games on its storefront for the same reason. Related articles * Best sex games - Ladykiller in a Bind Valve confirms credit card companies pressured it to delist certain adult games from Steam * KIEV, UKRAINE - 2020/01/24: In this photo illustration the Bank cards mastercard on computer keyboard. (Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down, but Valve says payment processors 'specifically cited' a Mastercard rule about damaging the brand * A vampire holds an ace of hearts Steam's got a new rule that puts the kibosh on 'certain kinds of adult only content' that make Visa and Mastercard sad Some in the Steam subreddit theorized that the Paypal problem was connected to the crackdown on NSFW games, and maybe it is, but Valve has now clarified that the issue isn't game content, but the specific currencies being used: Redditor jeeg123 shared a popup message that's being displayed when Steam rejects PayPal as a payment system: In early July 2025, PayPal notified Valve that their acquiring bank for payment transactions in certain currencies was immediately terminating the processing of any transactions related to Steam. This affects Steam purchases using PayPal in currencies other than EUR, CAD, GBP, JPY, AUD and USD. We hope to offer PayPal as an option for these currencies in the future but the timeline is uncertain. We are also evaluating adding additional payment methods on Steam for the customers affected by this. In the meantime, please use one of our other current payment methods during checkout. If you can't use any of the available options, you can consider using a Steam Wallet code to add funds to your account. (Image credit: Steam (via jeeg123 on Reddit)) "In early July 2025, PayPal notified Valve that their acquiring bank for payment transactions in certain currencies was immediately terminating the processing of any transactions related to Steam. This affects Steam purchases using PayPal in currencies other than EUR, CAD, GBP, JPY, AUD and USD," the message states. "We hope to offer PayPal as an option for these currencies in the future but the timeline is uncertain. We are also evaluating adding additional payment methods on Steam for the customers affected by this. In the meantime, please use one of our other current payment methods during checkout. If you can't use any of the available options, you can consider using a Steam Wallet code to add funds to your account." An identical message was recently added to the Steam Support site. To clarify one potential point of confusion, the currency-based restriction does exclude some EU nations: Steam users in Poland, for instance, which still uses the zloty as its official currency, are unable to use PayPal for Steam purchases despite the country being part of the EU. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. [ ][ ]Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands[ ]Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors[Sign me up] By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Valve was quite pointed in its response when Mastercard attempted to deflect the blame for the removal of NSFW games on Steam, and its relative silence on this PayPal problem leads me to suspect that the two issues are unrelated. So too is the fact that GBP remains one of the accepted currencies: Given the UK's Online Safety Act legislation , I would think that anyone concerned about the potential sale of adult games to minors would have that currency at the top of the "no thanks" list. So this is where we are: We know why PayPal is no longer available in large parts of the world, but we don't know why. Which quite frankly is not a terribly unusual state of affairs for Valve. I've reached out to ask and will update if I receive a reply. Razer Blade 16 gaming laptop Best gaming rigs 2025 All our favorite gear Check out our list of guides 1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16 2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L 3. Best handheld gaming PC: Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS ed. 4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT 5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3 TOPICS Valve Andy Chalk Andy Chalk Social Links Navigation US News Lead Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Logout Read more Best sex games - Ladykiller in a Bind Valve confirms credit card companies pressured it to delist certain adult games from Steam KIEV, UKRAINE - 2020/01/24: In this photo illustration the Bank cards mastercard on computer keyboard. (Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down, but Valve says payment processors 'specifically cited' a Mastercard rule about damaging the brand A vampire holds an ace of hearts Steam's got a new rule that puts the kibosh on 'certain kinds of adult only content' that make Visa and Mastercard sad Itch.io assets page tagged with "no AI" Itch.io is 'actively reaching out to other payment processors' after pressure from credit card companies to curtail NSFW content, and that compared to Valve, it has 'limited ability to push back' NieR creator Yoko Taro in his trademark Emil mask from the games 'Dangerous on a whole new level'--while Steam's policy change is new, the shadow of credit card meddling has been looming for a while, with Nier: Automata's Yoko Taro sounding the alarm last year The scout, soldier, and heavy from TF2 Itch.io releases list of the adult content you can't put on its store anymore after anti-NSFW crackdown, including stuff that's not illegal but just icky Latest in Games Team Fortress 2 Engineer avatar Team Fortress 2 player cooks themselves by destroying a Golden Frying Pan worth $6,800--for the second time A wizard and a young girl in an old ruin in Legend in the Mist. My most anticipated fantasy tabletop RPG of 2025 is available now, and it's got a free demo in the form of a gorgeous interactive comic A smiling man in military fatigues Stalker 2 says to hell with it, let's just update our entire Unreal Engine implementation in new roadmap for the rest of the year Astarion, after being asked whether he'd like a kiss, winces in the opposite of anticipation in Baldur's Gate 3. Baldur's Gate 3's Neil Newbon wants to reprise his role, but when people say 'this character's just like Astarion, would you like to play them?' he's 'like not really, no' DayZ Frostline screen: Some guy with a baseball bat getting ready to do a Casino on some other guy wearing a toque Former DayZ lead thinks survival games should let players tinker with every variable: 'Here's the keys. Have fun' Arslan Ash staring down at Spero Gin (off-screen) in shock at him using a PS1 controller to play Tekken 8. The Esports World Cup has marked one of Tekken's fiercest rivalries with a weirdly sticky poster Latest in News Team Fortress 2 Engineer avatar Team Fortress 2 player cooks themselves by destroying a Golden Frying Pan worth $6,800--for the second time A wizard and a young girl in an old ruin in Legend in the Mist. My most anticipated fantasy tabletop RPG of 2025 is available now, and it's got a free demo in the form of a gorgeous interactive comic A smiling man in military fatigues Stalker 2 says to hell with it, let's just update our entire Unreal Engine implementation in new roadmap for the rest of the year Astarion, after being asked whether he'd like a kiss, winces in the opposite of anticipation in Baldur's Gate 3. Baldur's Gate 3's Neil Newbon wants to reprise his role, but when people say 'this character's just like Astarion, would you like to play them?' he's 'like not really, no' DayZ Frostline screen: Some guy with a baseball bat getting ready to do a Casino on some other guy wearing a toque Former DayZ lead thinks survival games should let players tinker with every variable: 'Here's the keys. Have fun' Arslan Ash staring down at Spero Gin (off-screen) in shock at him using a PS1 controller to play Tekken 8. The Esports World Cup has marked one of Tekken's fiercest rivalries with a weirdly sticky poster HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS 1. 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