June 12, 2026, 3:34 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Valve takes action in the fight against scams involving Steam credit. The gaming platform operator is discontinuing the distribution of physical gift cards. Valve will no longer produce or supply these cards to retailers. This gradually ends an option many users have used to gift Steam credit.
Sales Continue Only Until Stock Runs Out
The gift cards already delivered to retailers will remain available for now. According to the official support page of Steam, they will be sold until existing stocks are depleted. No new cards will be sent to stores.
Anyone who already has a Steam gift card or finds one in stores can continue to use it as usual. The validity of already sold cards remains unchanged. Therefore, the decision does not impose any restrictions on existing gift cards.
After the end of physical cards, only the digital version remains. Those who want to gift Steam credit in the future must use the digital gift card offered directly through the gaming platform.
With this move, Valve shifts the offering entirely to the digital realm. Once retailers sell their last stocks, Valve will no longer bring new physical Steam gift cards to market.
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Fraud as a Decisive Trigger
Valve cites cybercrime as the reason for this step. In recent years, fraudsters have repeatedly used Steam gift cards to obtain money. They tricked their victims into buying gift cards and then passing on the redemption codes under various pretexts.
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The obtained codes were often resold on online platforms. This way, the perpetrators could convert the credit into cash.
Previous Measures Unsuccessful
According to Valve, various measures have been tried over the years to curb the misuse of gift cards. Apparently, these attempts did not lead to the desired result. Therefore, the company is now completely ending the sale of physical cards.
For users without a digital payment method, the change could be problematic. At the same time, it is unclear how effective the measure will be against the scam. Numerous other gift card systems remain available on the market.
Anyone who is asked by supposedly official entities to settle debts or claims with gift cards should be particularly cautious. Such requests may indicate an attempted fraud.
Those affected should remain skeptical in such cases and report incidents directly to the police.