Valve won’t let retailers stock physical Steam gift cards anymore because “scammers have adapted” to whatever security measures they’ve tried

Valve have stopped producing physical Steam Gift Cards for retailers, meaning once the current stock runs out you won’t see them anywhere out in the wild. Valve say this is because no matter what protections they’ve added to the cards, “scammers have adapted”.

While Valve will continue to sell Steam Digital Gift Cards through their shop, this means the days of trading in old physical games and using the credit to buy a gift card are coming to an end.

“We introduced Steam Gift Cards to retail stores back in 2012, and added the digital program in 2017,” Valve write in an update to their Steam Gift Cards FAQ. “Unfortunately, scammers use gift cards from major brands like Steam to take advantage of people all over the world.”

Valve list some of the ways they’ve tried to reduce scams, saying they’ve worked with retailers, law enforcement, made changes to the cards to highlight scam warnings, limited their availability, and removed cards from shops when they see unusual spikes in sales. One change, stopped you from being able to redeem a gift card into a currency other than the one you use in your Steam Wallet, to make it harder for scammers to work internationally.

However, this has all been to no avail. “As we have continued to put more and more restrictions in place, scammers have adapted,” Valve write. “They continue to have an impact on Steam customers and other unsuspecting individuals. So we’ve made the difficult decision to end the Steam Gift Card program at retail stores.”

What this means in practice is that when they’re gone, they’re gone. Valve expect all retailers to be out of stock by the end of 2026.

I didn’t really use gift cards until recently, when my nieces and nephews got a bit older and started playing games for themselves. There were years when I would buy them specific games and send them over on the morning of their birthdays or at Christmas, but as they’ve developed their own tastes it’s been nice to just let them get what they want. Well, sometimes I still insist on sending them games like Unpacking and Outer Wilds, you know, to make sure they’re developing good taste. Though, admittedly, the gift cards were always digital ones.

However, there’s a whole other side to the gift card economy that this will cut off. When Valve aren’t the only people selling gift cards, there is a wider availability of deals and discounts. When that’s through trade-in deals, shop sales, or even just being able to use cards that offer cashback at certain outlets, there were little ways you could get your games for a little bit less.

Preventing scammers from having another tool in their arsenal is certainly a good reason to stop selling gift cards, but at a time when Valve are facing accusations of running a monopoly, it’s not a great look to stop other shops from being able to sell currency for Steam.