Valve is removing Steam Gift cards from sale to combat scammers

Valve plans to end Steam Gift Card sales at retailers to combat scams

Valve has confirmed on Steam that it plans to stop selling physical Steam Gift Cards at retailers, with sales ending once current retail inventories run out. Currently, the company expects retail inventories to run out by the end of 2026. Digital Gift Cards will remain available to purchase.

Like gift cards from many brands, Steam gift cards have been used by scammers to take advantage of victims worldwide. While Valve has attempted to thwart these efforts, scammers have adapted. To end these scams, Valve has decided to stop selling gift cards through retailers. Once retailers run out of Valve’s gift cards, they will be gone forever.

People who want to purchase a Steam Gift Card will soon need to do so digitally. While some buyers prefer physical gift cards, Valve doesn’t want its gift cards used by scammers. With Valve unable to find a way to prevent gift card fraud, its only options were to ignore the problem or end its sales. Valve has, rightly, chosen the latter option.

Can I purchase Steam Gift Cards at retailers?

Yes, but only for a limited time.

We introduced Steam Gift Cards to retail stores back in 2012, and added the digital program in 2017. Unfortunately, scammers use gift cards from major brands like Steam to take advantage of all people all over the world.

We’ve responded to gift card scams over the years by taking a number of actions to protect customers, including:

• Working with retailers
• Working with law enforcement
• Making changes to the cards, including adding a prominent scam warning
• Limiting redemption to be in the currency of your Steam wallet
• Limiting availability of cards
• Removing cards from sale when we observed abnormal activity

As we have continued to put more and more restrictions in place, scammers have adapted. They continue to have an impact on Steam customers and other unsuspecting individuals. So we’ve made the difficult decision to end the Steam Gift Card program at retail stores.

As Steam Gift Cards run out of stock at retail locations, we will not be restocking them. We expect all retailers to be out of stock by the end of 2026. Though we will no longer be selling physical gift cards, you will still have the ability to use your existing gift cards on Steam whenever you choose, subject to local laws.

We also continue to offer Steam Digital Gift Cards, and are working to make this an even better experience. Guest checkout, which we added last year, is another way for family members and friends to gift Steam users with a digital card anytime.

– Steam

By the time we enter 2027, Steam Gift Cards will no longer be available through retailers. Gifting options will remain available on Steam, though it will be entirely digital. While it is a shame that physical gift cards are going away, they are going away for a good reason.

You can join the discussion on Valve’s plan to remove Steam gift cards from retailers on the OC3D Forums.