Valve ends physical Steam gift cards due to widespread scams
Overview & Key Takeaways
This year, Valve will stop sending retailers physical Steam gift cards due to scammers on the PC platform.
In a crushing blow to “parents who are looking for a gift and vaguely know that their kid likes PC games” everywhere, Valve will no longer be selling physical gift cards for Steam. The company announced the news on a Steam support page (spotted by PC Guide), explaining that the cards are being retired because scammers frequently use them to coerce money from victims.
Essentially, scammers will send a call, email, text, or social media message to their mark, saying something like they are from the government or are a friend of a family member and that they have an urgent need for payment. They’ll pose as IRS agents looking for taxes, and more. They’ll then instruct the victim to purchase a gift card and provide its number and PIN. While this kind of scam would be fairly obvious to some, the targets are frequently elderly individuals or other vulnerable groups. The issue has been prevalent enough to warrant a government response.
Valve said that it has tried to protect consumers by working with retailers and law enforcement, making changes to the cards, limiting availability, and removing them when suspicious activity arises, but scammers have apparently adapted to these methods. As a result, Valve has decided to stop restocking these cards at retailers, meaning when stores run out of stock in 2026, that will be it.
The company began offering physical gift cards back in 2012.
Valve will continue to offer Steam Digital Gift Cards and are working to improve the feature with options like guest checkout, which is designed to make it easier for those unfamiliar with the platform.
Those who’ve struggled to think of good gift ideas or who’ve tried to explain to relatives that most PC gamers don’t use physical media anymore will undoubtedly find the news quite disappointing. Even if Valve improves the Steam Digital Gift Card functionality, this mild technical barrier will prove a big hurdle for some. It also doesn’t help that digital gift cards can’t currently be scheduled and require the giver to know the receiver's email or Steam account. It seems that the family and friends of PC gamers are going to need to get a bit more creative during birthdays and holidays.
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