Valve addresses Steam game trading exploit

Valve has made changes to Steam gift trading in response to a nasty exploit which allowed users to trade games they do not rightfully own. Users were able to purchase games using false credit card details before trading them for legitimately purchased games. The exploiter was able to keep the fully paid game, while the person on the receiving end of the dodgy trade would find their game inaccessible once the credit card details were found to be fake.

“We've made this change to make trading gifts a better experience for those receiving the gifts. We're hoping this lowers the number of people who trade for a game only to have the game revoked later due to issues with the purchaser's payment method.”

It's a good time to be ironing out these creases: the Steam sale is currently in progress, which means our piles of shame are growing exponentially.

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Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.