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Steam discontinues physical gift cards after the end of 2026.
- Thread starter GrayChild
- Start date
Rockondevil
Member
That's a shame. It's my usual go to for Christmas or my Birthday when people don't know what to get.
I wasn't selling any
Member
Every non-traceable way of purchasing anything is quickly vanishing. The disappearance of physical gift cards is just another step towards the totalitarian prohibition and disapprance of cash everywhere.
In the future, everything non-compliant with governments mainstream opinion, will lead to you being cutoff from the financial system, and there is nothing you will be able to do against that.
In the future, everything non-compliant with governments mainstream opinion, will lead to you being cutoff from the financial system, and there is nothing you will be able to do against that.
MrRibeye
Member
KaiserCrab
Member
It sucks indeed. I always get one or two of these at Christmas.
neo raider
Member
U scared me dude
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
Damn! - Going full digital but still available.
Quasicat
Member
I use gift cards as a way to budget myself since the swipe of a credit card is way too easy. I'm now at the point where I have gotten rid of a lot of my revolving credit and this budget system is what helps me keep me honest with my budget. I will pick up a few more gift cards, but realistically this will almost completely stop my purchasing on Steam and I will move onto the other platforms.
Hadji*
Member
You pay money for pirated games?
Astray
Member
Always use the report function to notify mods of things you want to adjust in the title etc.
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
No but it negatively affects Valve's business just like people getting scammed through gift cards negatively affects their business. You don't just pick up your ball and go home. You look for ways to innovate.
dreamstation
Member
I've both gifted and received them as gifts. Kinda sucks.
Hadji*
Member
Feels like I'm going to sound like an old broken radio when I say this but Gaben already said more than 15 years ago that piracy is a service problem, That's why Steam is what it is right now, With all the services it provides, That's why Steam is dominating the market and people are crying monopoly, as for the card gifting thing, It's written right there, They are working on making it a better experience..
Topher
Identifies as young
I asked Claude how gift cards are used by scammers
Gift cards are one of the most common payment methods scammers demand, mainly because they're essentially untraceable cash. Here's how the schemes typically work:
Why scammers love gift cards: Once someone reads the numbers off the back of a card, the funds can be drained almost instantly, often laundered through resale sites or used to buy goods. Unlike credit cards or bank transfers, there's no chargeback mechanism, no fraud department, and very little way to recover the money.
Common scam scenarios:
The basic pattern is the same across most of them: a scammer creates urgency or fear, then instructs the victim to buy gift cards (often Apple, Google Play, Amazon, Target, or Steam) and read the codes over the phone or send photos of them.
Card tampering at stores: Beyond phone scams, some criminals physically tamper with cards on store racks — recording the card numbers and scratching off and replacing the PIN covers — then wait for someone to buy and load the card so they can drain it. This is sometimes called "card draining."
Red flags: Anyone who demands payment specifically in gift cards is scamming you, full stop. No legitimate business, government agency, or employer settles debts this way. Other warning signs include pressure to act immediately, instructions to stay on the phone while you buy the cards, and being told to lie to store clerks about why you're buying them (clerks are often trained to ask, precisely because of these scams).
Gift cards are one of the most common payment methods scammers demand, mainly because they're essentially untraceable cash. Here's how the schemes typically work:
Why scammers love gift cards: Once someone reads the numbers off the back of a card, the funds can be drained almost instantly, often laundered through resale sites or used to buy goods. Unlike credit cards or bank transfers, there's no chargeback mechanism, no fraud department, and very little way to recover the money.
Common scam scenarios:
The basic pattern is the same across most of them: a scammer creates urgency or fear, then instructs the victim to buy gift cards (often Apple, Google Play, Amazon, Target, or Steam) and read the codes over the phone or send photos of them.
- Impersonation scams: Someone poses as the IRS, Social Security Administration, police, or a utility company, claiming you owe money or face arrest unless you pay immediately with gift cards. (Real government agencies never ask for gift cards — that demand alone is a guaranteed sign of fraud.)
- Tech support scams: A fake "Microsoft" or "Apple" agent claims your computer is infected and demands gift card payment for repairs or security software.
- Boss/coworker scams: An email or text appearing to come from your boss asks you to urgently buy gift cards for clients or a company event, then send the codes.
- Romance scams: Someone builds a relationship online, then asks for gift cards to cover a fake emergency, travel costs, or medical bills.
- Grandparent scams: A caller pretends to be a grandchild in trouble (arrested, in an accident) needing immediate gift card payment for bail or fees.
- Prize/lottery scams: You've "won" something, but must pay taxes or fees via gift card to claim it.
Card tampering at stores: Beyond phone scams, some criminals physically tamper with cards on store racks — recording the card numbers and scratching off and replacing the PIN covers — then wait for someone to buy and load the card so they can drain it. This is sometimes called "card draining."
Red flags: Anyone who demands payment specifically in gift cards is scamming you, full stop. No legitimate business, government agency, or employer settles debts this way. Other warning signs include pressure to act immediately, instructions to stay on the phone while you buy the cards, and being told to lie to store clerks about why you're buying them (clerks are often trained to ask, precisely because of these scams).
neo raider
Member
Says the guy who introduced DRMS back in 04
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GrayChild
Member
Topher
Identifies as young
Yes. Because of piracy
Stitch
Member
Yeah yeah, strange that I had to use CD-Keys for many games BEFORE Steam, but they were tied to like a dozen different servers (Gamespy, WON, SecuROM, blahblah. All dead btw). Valve just unified it
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Fahdis
Member
All of India about to jump your ass bro.
Topher
Identifies as young
sainraja
Member
We have to start supporting places like GOG more.
I wasn't selling any
Member
My GOG library is way bigger than "my" Steam library.
sainraja
Member
Nice! Most of my PC purchases have been on GOG as well. Many of the steam games I got were simply through humble bundle when I use to subscribe to them.
bitbydeath
Member
Lots of people do, they just don't realise it.
Kupfer
Member
I only used them once, when the Deck came out.
I scoured our online secondhand marketplace for the poor souls who'd fallen victim to scammers, gone ahead and bought Steam credit for the scammer - some of whom realized what was happening during the process and resold the credit for less than its value.
That's how I got the 256GB Deck for €480 at launch.
I scoured our online secondhand marketplace for the poor souls who'd fallen victim to scammers, gone ahead and bought Steam credit for the scammer - some of whom realized what was happening during the process and resold the credit for less than its value.
That's how I got the 256GB Deck for €480 at launch.
You can add different amounts of credit directly to your Steam account. Just skip the step of purchase physical card -> input into Steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/steamaccount/addfunds/
The major thing that sucks is getting extra reward points as those can be "in store" purchases with a branded credit card. So you can get can extra 2-5% off versus buying directly on Steam. I guess we just need a Steam/Valve card now.