After more than a decade in business, Valve will phase out the sale of physical Steam gift cards at retail in the future. According to the latest instructions posted by Valve on its support page, physical gift cards will no longer be restocked once inventory runs out, and the company expects stores to sell out of physical gift cards by the end of 2026.
Valve said the move was driven by gift card scams that continue to impact Steam users and other unsuspecting consumers.
In a typical gift card fraud scenario, the fraudster will induce the victim to go to an offline store to purchase a gift card and inform the fraudster of the card redemption code after payment, thereby completing the fund transfer.
In the announcement, Valve linked to a popular science article about gift card scams from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to remind users to understand how the scam operates and how to avoid risks.
The company emphasized that it has taken a number of measures to address gift card fraud in recent years, including working with law enforcement agencies, adding risk warnings on gift cards, and proactively reducing the listing and exposure of gift cards in retail channels.
However, Valve also admitted that despite the above adjustments, "scammers have adapted" and are still using physical gift cards to defraud unspecified groups of people. This is one of the important reasons why the company decided to completely phase out physical gift cards.
Valve has launched physical Steam gift cards in retail channels since 2012, allowing users to recharge their accounts or gift games and digital content to others without a credit card or online payment method.
Today, the company plans to exit the offline retail market of physical gift cards while retaining its digital gift card business to reduce the risk of related payment tools being used as fraud tools.
Valve stated that although physical gift cards will no longer be produced and replenished in the future, physical gift cards that consumers have purchased can still be redeemed normally at any time and will not be affected by this adjustment.
At the same time, Valve will continue to provide digital gift card services through the Steam platform. Users can recharge friends' accounts online or gift balances. This method is easier for the platform to implement risk control and monitoring at the technical level than physical cards.
This adjustment shows that in the context of the high popularity of digital entertainment and online payments, fraud activities surrounding gift cards and other tools are forcing platform manufacturers to re-examine the safety and necessity of offline payment carriers.