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, giving the receiver the chance to pick their own games. But what is a Steam Card, and how can you go about buying one? Here’s everything you need to know.
Read more: The best Steam games for you
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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. That means you can technically use one towards a Steam Deck purchase.
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?
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You can buy physical Steam cards at retail stores across the globe, including Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, GameStop, 7-Eleven, CVS, Dollar General, and more. 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.
Read more: How to share games on Steam
How to redeem a Steam gift card
You can redeem one either via the Steam app or the web platform. Physical ones come with a code that you need to scratch with a coin to reveal. Make sure you have the code revealed and handy.
To redeem one via the Steam 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.
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Enter the code in the Steam Wallet code field, and click Continue.
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Steam may ask you to add an address after this step, 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.
How to send a Steam gift card to a friend
You can buy a physical Steam gift card at any of the aforementioned retailers 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 a digital one, provided they’re on your friend list. The best way to do that is via Steam itself.
When redeemed, steam Card 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.
Can you buy Steam Cards with Best Buy gift cards?
You cannot use a Best Buy gift card to buy a Steam Card. Even if you succeed in making a purchase, Best Buy is likely to cancel the order since it’s against their policy to use a gift card to purchase another gift card item.
Can you use Visa gift cards on Steam?
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.
