What Are Steam Gift Cards And Why Is It The Perfect Gift For Games in 2024

Are you a gamer? Perhaps, you know someone who loves to play games. Either way, Steam gift cards can be ideal gifts to yourself or your gamer family or friend. But, what are these gift cards? Also, why are these gift vouchers the perfect gifts for gamers? Find out the answers to these questions by reading the rest of this article.

What Are Steam Gift Cards?

Steam gift cards are a way to get your hands on a variety of digital games online. Note that Steam is an online portal that lets you download and play games. Furthermore, you can play your favorite titles with others from around the world. Also, you don’t need to submit to annual contracts or recurring fees.

However, you might see a difference in costs for the physical and digital versions of these vouchers. For instance, physical cards tend to provide players with a Steam wallet balance of USD$20, USD$30, USD$50, or USD$100. But, the digital counterparts tend to be worth USD$5, USD$10, USD$25, USD$50, or USD$100.

Also, you can buy Steam gift cards or you can get them for free if you know where to look. According to Frugal For Less, you can find free Steam gift vouchers and wallet codes from a range of online portals. However, you might not get these gift certificates without doing anything. Ergo, you might need to answer a survey, download an app, or sign up to a newsletter before you can earn your free gift card.

How To Send Digital Steam Cards To Gamers

Once you have your paid or free digital Steam card, you can send it to your PC gamer friend or relative. The following are the steps to send the digital voucher to another Steam account:

• Go to store.steampowered.com.
• Head to the site’s digital gift card section.
• Select the dollar amount of the gift card you want to send.
• Select the account to receive the digital card from your Steam friends list.
• (Optional) Write a note that comes with the card.
• Select a payment method. This digital game portal accepts most major credit cards and PayPal transactions.
• Agree to the Steam subscriber agreement.
• Check your purchase and receiver credentials one more time.
• Confirm the transaction.

Once you complete the steps mentioned above, Steam should send you a receipt or confirmation of the transaction to your registered email. Also, the recipient should receive the Steam card immediately after you completed the transaction.

Why Are Steam Gift Cards The Perfect Gifts?

1. Take Advantage Of Sales

Steam tends to be generous when it comes to its promotions. Gamers around the globe can enjoy discounts that might range from 5% to 95%. You might even buy some games that only cost USD$1. Hence, why not give yourself or one of your Steam friends to enjoy these promotions with Steam gift vouchers? If you use Steam gift cards on sales, you can save a lot of money.

But, what if the game you or your friend wants isn’t on sale? Note that you don’t have to spend the amount you or your friend received from the gift card immediately. You can put the funds in your Steam wallet and let them stay there until the game of your choice gets a discount.

2. Access To AAA Titles

Is your friend looking to get in on the action of playing some AAA titles, like Destiny 2, Grand Theft Auto V, or Horizon Zero Dawn? However, that friend might be saving their money on something else. You can brighten up that person’s day by giving them the required amount to purchase the AAA game they want.

For example, you can send USD$100 to your Steam friend to let them purchase the Marvel’s: Avengers game, which costs USD$59.99 on the gaming portal. Then, your friend can use the remaining USD$40.01 for other apps and games on the platform. You can also send two gift cards to your Steam friend to reach that amount. Hence, you can send a USD$50 and a USD$10 card to purchase the Marvel’s: Avengers game.

3. Access To Not-So-Hidden Gems

Steam isn’t all about AAA titles. The digital gaming portal has thousands of games for you and your friend to select. Some of these games even come from indie developers, such as Pandemic, The Binding of Isaac, and Spelunky.

Don’t underestimate the appeal that some indie games can bring to the table. Some of these titles might take only a few hours to complete. But, these ‘not-so-hidden’ games may leave an everlasting impression in your gamer heart and mind that it’s difficult to move forward after playing these titles. Hence, you can send gift cards to your friends to let them share your passion for playing these indie games. For example, you want to enjoy Among Us’s local play as you search for the impostor with the friends you know instead of playing with random strangers in matchmaking.

4. Buy Apps

Today, Steam isn’t only an online portal to download, install, and play games. Now, you can buy the latest, top-selling, and discounted PC software on the portal. Your friend can even enjoy these apps if you send them gift cards with the correct amount.

Some of the apps you can find on Steam are:

• Soundpad
• Rutonychat
• Sony Vegas Pro
• Source Filmmaker
• CPUCores
• Wallpaper Engine

Furthermore, many of these apps tend to cost less than a full-priced AAA game. Hence, you may not have to spend more than USD$50 (depending on the software) for you or your Steam friend to download and install these apps.

5. Buy Hardware

Steam has grown as more than a platform to download, install, and play games over the years. Now, many of its users can buy dedicated hardware to support their gaming lifestyles. Enjoy these tangible pieces of gaming equipment with the help of a Steam gift card. Choose from a range of hardware to buy, including the HP Reverb G2 and the Steam controller.

6. Multi-Platform Support

Today, games aren’t only for the Microsoft Windows operating system as you can now download and play games from Steam for relatively every platform. Steam has a range of games for other operating systems, including:

• macOS
• Linux
• Android
• iOS

Hence, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to feel restricted if your Steam friend only plays Android or iOS games. Those individuals can use the gift cards you send to buy apps and games for these mobile operating systems. Furthermore, Steam users can also buy games from the portal’s proprietary app. Hence, you and your friend don’t need to wait until you can go home before purchasing that app or game you want.

7. Join Millions Of Other Gamers

Does your friend want to start playing massively multiplayer online (MMO) games? Steam has your friend covered with its range of MMO titles. But, some of these games sit behind a paywall. Don’t let your friend worry about this aspect since you can give them a Steam gift voucher to start playing these titles with you.
Let your Steam friends use the gift certificates to start playing MMOs, such as The Elder Scrolls Online, Black Desert, and TemTem. However, many MMOs on Steam are free-to-play, but they have built-in micro-transactions to let players purchase in-game items using real-world cash. If so, you can give a Steam gift card to your friend if they want to purchase these in-game items.

8. Gift Card Exchange

Perhaps, your friend wants to use the digital Steam gift card for something else that’s not on this gaming platform. If so, that individual may exchange the gift card for another option. For example, you can exchange that card for either a Google Play or an iTunes card. It’s possible, but it might be quite challenging. It would be best to understand that exchanging gift cards online can be a tricky and risky endeavor.

First, be wary of scam sites as some people may not stop at anything to get your digital Steam cards while you get nothing in return. Therefore, take the time to research for legit card exchange websites. Also, if you’re going to exchange the gift card with another individual, ensure that you’re going to exchange the information directly. Otherwise, you should know and trust the person before you commence this transaction.

Do it correctly, and you might have fun in exchanging these gift cards. It’s also an excellent option for gift vouchers only sitting in Steam wallets for extended periods. Furthermore, you might even come across certain deals in exchanging these vouchers. For instance, you might find an individual that’s willing to exchange their USD$50 Google Play card for your USD$30 Steam card.

Conclusion

You and your Steam friend can purchase a range of digital and physical items from Steam using gift cards. Purchase AAA titles, indie games, or in-game items from the amount acquired from the gift voucher. Then, you or that one friend doesn’t have to feel left out when everyone else is playing the latest games on Steam.