Steam

Steam is an entertainment platform and app where you can play, discuss and create games. You can chat to other members of the community, through groups, clans or in-game chat features. Users can also livestream on Steam.

13+

Official age rating

12+

Parent age rating

What do parents say?

11+

Child age rating

What do children say?

At a glance

Kids use this to...

Play

Create

Learn

Connect

Expert view of the risks...

Sexual

High Risk

Violence & hatred

High Risk

Bullying

High Risk

Suicide & self-harm

Medium Risk

Drink, drugs & crime

Medium Risk

O2 Guru top tip

On Steam family accounts

Check out Steam’s parental controls feature - Family View - and agree with your child which parts of the platform should be accessible to them.

Top tips for staying safe

Explore it together

Sitting down with your child and exploring their favourite app or game is a great way for you to learn more about what they like to do online.

You can ask them why they like to use an app or play certain games, as well as who they’re talking to and what sorts of things they’re sharing.

You can also read our Net Aware reviews for tips on how to keep kids safe on popular apps, sites and games.

Talk to your child about what they’re sharing

Help your child think about what they share online and who sees it. Compare it to what they would be happy to share offline.

Use examples that are easy for them to understand: “You shouldn't give your number to somebody you don't know on the street. Is somebody online you don't know any different?”

Listen to their answers. And be positive and encouraging.

Remind them that they shouldn’t share private things, such as:

personal information, like names, emails, phone numbers, location and school names
other people's personal information
links to join private group chats
photos of themselves
photos of their body, such as sexual photos or videos.

Let your child know they can talk to you

Explain that you understand the internet is a great place to play, create, learn and connect. But remind them they can talk to you if anything upsets or worries them.

Reassure them that you won’t overreact – you’re just looking out for them.

It’s important to remind your child that they can talk you, another adult they trust, like a teacher, or Childline about anything they see online.

Check out Family View on Steam

Steam has a parental controls feature, called Family View, that lets families choose what parts of the platform are accessible.

Family View allows you to select certain games to play, as well as restrict access to community-generated content, chat and forums.

Remember to explore Steam together so you can agree on what your child should see. If you choose to use Family View, Steam has information on how to set it up.

Check the privacy settings

It's important to check the privacy settings on your child's Steam account. As standard, basic details such as your profile and friends list are public but you can change the privacy settings so only your friends can see things like your profile, comments and friends list.

You can visit Steam for specific information on privacy settings.

What kids and parents are saying about Steam

We've spoken to over 2,000 parents and kids to find out what they think.

Kids

What do children and young people dislike about Steam?

Some of the games cost money to play
People can bully each other

I like the ability to play with your own friends, but the majority of games on this application do tend to have a toxic community.

Boy, 17

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What do children and young people like about Steam?

It allows you to play games with your friends
You can talk to people with similar interests
There are lots of different games to choose from

It is a fun social media that connects people that play the same games together. This way you can talk to strangers without revealing your real name or face.

Parents

Signing up

It was very easy with my email address and I had a confirmation email.

Mum of a 17 year old

Show me more

Reporting

The information is there, but you had to go to the Help Centre option, open it on a browser window and then search for the instructions.

Dad of 5 and 13 year olds

Privacy settings

Overall, parents found it easy to turn off their location settings and change their settings so that their profile and account was private.

Under the privacy setting there was only a single option, which has a tick box to say whether you wish to receive messages from 'everyone' or not.

Father of 16 and 17 year olds

It was not straightforward to find the settings button, as it was hidden in a long menu. I could not find anything about location settings at all.

Mum of 12 and 14 year olds

Safety and support

Games and video come with a warning of content, but it’s still too easy to gain access to everything.

Mum of 5 and 9 year old boys

The information is there for community standards and safety information, although it is not obvious and you have to press several links to find it.

Mum of a 15 year old girl