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Steam has been the premier PC gaming platform for nearly two decades, having launched in 2003, but fully bloomed in the late 2000s. One of the ways in which they became so ubiquitous so quickly was through their easily accessible gift cards, but it now seems that Valve has deemed the once vital piece of the company’s business plan unnecessary.

In the near future, Steam will be discontinuing all retail sales of physical gift cards. While digital gift cards will still be available directly through Steam, this shift reflects the ongoing, and controversial, continued move away by the gaming industry from physical media.

It’s the End of an Era For Steam in 2026

Image via Valve

The massive shift in Steam’s direction as a company was first reported by Windows Central. They directly clarified that, while they wouldn’t be buying back gift cards from retail stores, and would allow them to sell through their current supply, Steam would no longer be producing any additional physical gift cards.

Windows Central also explained that Steam was making this move primarily to combat scammers. Steam’s full explanation about this can be found on their FAQ page under, “Can I purchase Steam Gift Cards at retailers?”

“We introduced Steam Gift Cards to retail stores back in 2012, and added the digital program in 2017,” Steam’s official answer begins. “Unfortunately, scammers use gift cards from major brands like Steam to take advantage of all people all over the world.”

“We’ve responded to gift card scams over the years by taking a number of actions to protect customers, including: Working with retailers, working with law enforcement, making changes to the cards, including adding a prominent scam warning, limiting redemption to be in the currency of your Steam wallet, limiting availability of cards, removing cards from sale when we observed abnormal activity,” the answer continues.”

“As we have continued to put more and more restrictions in place, scammers have adapted. 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.”

While fans may miss seeing physical Steam cards directly next to gift cards for other major brands at their retailer of choice, the situation Steam is addressing is a real and serious one. There have been consistent reported instances of scammers exploiting vulnerable people by tricking them into purchasing and sharing gift card codes, which are notoriously difficult to track, and can even be used for money laundering.

With scammers using much more than just Steam’s gift cards, it’s entirely possible that other gaming companies will soon discontinue their own physical gift cards as well.