Valve is discontinuing the popular Steam gift cards that you can buy in supermarkets. This is mainly to make life harder for scammers.
When buying a game on Steam, you usually have two options: Either you pay for your purchase directly online, for instance with a credit card, Paypal, or an alternative. Or you buy Steam credit at the supermarket around the corner. Most stores have these gift cards right at the checkout, which you can purchase with cash.
However, this is exactly what Valve wants to abolish, and for a good reason. Not to make it difficult for players to purchase games, but rather to make life hard for scammers. Because they have set their sights on these gift cards.
Valve is discontinuing gift cards due to scammers
Why this decision? Gift cards are often demanded as payment by scammers. This is because such cards are significantly harder to trace than an online payment. The cards are considered anonymous and quite secure by many users, especially if they do not want to trust their data to Paypal or another third party.
One widely reported case was about a grandma who bought huge amounts of Steam credit, presumably for a scammer. And this is exactly the kind of fraud scenario that Valve wants to prevent. Valve states on the official Steam help page:
As we have implemented stricter measures, scammers have adapted. They continue to cause harm to Steam customers and other unsuspecting individuals. Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue the retail Steam gift card program.
Once the retail Steam gift cards are sold out, we will not be restocking them. We expect that all retailers will be out of stock by the end of 2026. Even though we will not be selling physical gift cards anymore, you can still redeem your existing gift cards on Steam at any time, subject to local regulations.
However, it is important to note that the old purchased gift cards will retain their validity. Even if you have bought such a card and have not redeemed it yet, it will not lose its validity. Digital gift cards will also continue to be sold directly through Steam.
Is there any criticism? Yes, on Reddit some users point out that certain people could be disadvantaged by this decision. Gift cards are particularly popular as a payment method in poorer countries.
Additionally, children and teenagers often have no access to digital payment options and could be excluded as a result. In some countries, certain payment methods may not be available.
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