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Steam gift cards: What they are and how to redeem them
Gift cards are a great way to get or give digital goods. When it comes to gifting games, a Steam Card can be a great way to do it. After all, Steam is one of the most popular platforms for purchasing and playing video games. And gifting someone a card gives them the freedom to choose the Steam games they want. And if they don’t like it, they can always return it. So, what is a Steam Card, and how can you go about buying one? Here’s everything you need to know.
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A Steam gift card is a prepaid card that allows you to add funds to your Steam Wallet, which can be used for purchasing games, software, and hardware on the Steam platform.
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What is a Steam Card?
A Steam Card is a gift card that you can use against purchases on Steam. You can redeem it into your Steam Wallet and then use your wallet balance to buy anything from Steam, including games, other software, downloadable content, and even hardware. This even allows you to use them towards purchasing hardware like the Steam Deck.
They’re available in two forms — digital and physical. You can buy physical cards from stores and gift them, or you can make a digital purchase of a Card and send it digitally. Physical cards are available in denominations of $20, $30, $50, and $100. Digital cards are available in denominations of $5, $10, $25, $50, and $100.
Where can you buy Steam gift cards?
Retail stores across the globe, including Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, GameStop, 7-Eleven, CVS, and Dollar General, sell physical cards. They’re also available online on the retailers’ websites for store pickup and delivery.
If you want to buy a digital one, you can still get them from some online retailers. However, your best bet is Steam itself. You can make a direct purchase by selecting which Steam friend you want to gift it to, making the process hassle-free. See our guide on how to share Steam games for more details.
How to redeem a Steam gift card
You can redeem one either via the Steam app or the web platform. If you are using a physical card, you will need to scratch with a coin to reveal the code on the back. Make sure you have the code at hand when you are ready to redeem.
To redeem a Steam code via the app, open Steam on your computer. Click the Games button on the menu bar at the top, and click the Redeem a Steam Wallet Code… button.
Enter the code in the Steam Wallet code field, and click Continue.
After this step, Steam may ask you to add an address, but they will add the amount to your Steam Wallet balance.
You don’t need to redeem a digital card, as it gets sent to your account directly. You only have to accept the gift, and the amount gets credited to your Steam Wallet.
If you are sure that you entered the code correctly, but Steam is not opening or accepting it, see our guide on how to fix common problems.
How to send a Steam gift card to a friend
You can buy a physical gift card at any of the retailers mentioned above and more. If you get a physical one, you’ll have to give the card to your friend in person (or send them a picture of the code if that’s more convenient). You can also have it directly delivered to your friend if you use retailers with online storefronts, like Best Buy.
You can send it to your friend’s Steam account if it’s digital, provided they’re on your friend list. The best way to do that is via Steam directly.
FAQs
When redeemed, the balances get added to your Steam Wallet, and you can add multiple balances to your wallet. You can also pay the remaining amount with a credit or debit card if the wallet balance is insufficient for a purchase.
No, You cannot use a Best Buy gift card to buy any other gift card. Even if you succeed in making a purchase, Best Buy is likely to cancel the order since it’s against their policy, as with most retail stores.
Yes, you can. It lets you make direct purchases, but the best course of action is to use one to add the balance to your Steam Wallet and then use the Steam Wallet balance to make the purchase.
The number of games you can buy with a $100 gift card varies greatly as the price of games can range from a few dollars to $60 or more for new, AAA titles. For example, if you’re buying games that are around $20 each, you could get approximately five games. However, if you’re buying games during sales or discounted older titles, you could potentially buy dozens of games for $100.
Yes, you can get gift cards for Steam. They are commonly available for purchase online and at various retail stores.
They are used to add credit to a user’s Steam Wallet, which can then be used to purchase games, software, hardware, and any other item available on the Steam platform.
Yes, they are commonly sold in various grocery stores.
Yes, CVS typically sells Steam gift cards.
You can get them from various retailers such as Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop, and CVS, as well as online through the Steam website and other online retailers.