Valve has confirmed that PayPal payment support for certain currencies on Steam has been affected due to a banking partner’s concerns regarding content on the platform. This limitation, observed by users since July, appears to stem from external pressures beyond Valve or PayPal’s direct control.
PayPal informed Valve in early July 2025 that its acquiring bank for specific payment transactions was immediately ceasing the processing of all Steam-related transactions. This decision impacts Steam purchases made using PayPal in currencies other than EUR, CAD, GBP, JPY, AUD, and USD. Consequently, PayPal remains operational for transactions in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Valve clarified that the bank’s decision to withdraw support for Steam transactions via PayPal was directly related to content hosted on Steam. This situation mirrors previous content-related issues that involved Mastercard. The termination of these transactions by the acquiring bank necessitated the disabling of PayPal as a payment option for several currencies.
The PayPal incident appears connected to an ongoing content moderation issue affecting platforms like Steam and Itch.io. In July, several games were delisted from Steam. These delistings occurred because the games did not comply with new guidelines mandating adherence to the standards and policies of payment processors. Valve previously informed Kotaku that Mastercard had compelled the removal of certain games by exerting pressure through payment processor intermediaries. Mastercard, in turn, was reportedly influenced by conservative activist groups who expressed objections to specific sexually explicit games available on Steam.
In the current scenario, the acquiring bank collaborating with PayPal constitutes the point of vulnerability, rather than Steam or a direct payment network. It is plausible that this acquiring bank is reacting to similar external pressures concerning content.
