How to gift games on Steam to friends, family, and anyone else

When searching for the perfect gift for the gamer in your life, you have a lot of options. From controllers and keyboards to collectibles and more, it can be hard to figure out what they'd like best. However, it's nearly impossible to go wrong with a Steam game, as the platform is used by millions of PC gamers around the globe. The gifting process has changed a bit over the years, but gifting a game on Steam is still remarkably simple. Here's a look at how it works.

Difficulty

Moderate

Duration

20 minutes

What You Need

Steam account
Friend with Steam account
Laptop, desktop, or other Wi-Fi-enabled device

How to gift a new game on Steam

To gift a new game on Steam, you'll need to make sure your recipient has their own Steam account and is on your friend list.

Step 1: Make sure your friend has a Steam account.

Step 2: If you want to buy someone a game who does not have a Steam account, they’ll have to set up a new account and download the Steam client.

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Step 3: Once they are set up, you should go to the Friends drop-down menu. Select Add a Friend and search for their username.

Step 4: Invite them to become your friend. Once they accept your request, you can send them a game.

Step 5: Locate the game you want to give in the Steam store, either directly in the client or through the web portal, and select Add to Cart. If you already own the game in question on your own account, there will be a note just above the buy option that says “Buy this game as a gift for a friend.”

Step 6: Select Purchase as a gift.

If you already own the game, Purchase for myself will be faded and unresponsive, since you cannot own multiple copies of the same game anymore.

Step 7: Select the recipient from your list of friends. You can choose to schedule the delivery at a later time and date if you want to set it up to arrive on a delay