Can You Use Steam Points to Buy Games?

Thanks to Steam’s many, many sales, chances are you’ve bought multiple games from the Steam store. And even if you’ve not noticed it, each time you buy a game, you get Steam Points. But can you use Steam Points to buy more Steam games?

Steam Points Can Be Used to Buy Avatars, Backgrounds, and More — but Not Actual Games

The answer is no, you can’t use them to buy games. So, what’s the point (sorry) of them? You can, instead, spend them on items that you add to your Steam profile. You can purchase avatars, badges, game profiles, and other items that will be visible on your profile.

Hang on… can’t you already add your own Steam avatar? You can upload images, yes, but you can’t use animated GIFs. As of right now, the only way to get an animated Steam avatar is to purchase it. You can see what’s on offer by loading up Steam, clicking on the Store, then clicking on “Points Shop” along the top.

It’s a little disappointing that you can’t use Steam points to purchase actual games. A lot of loyalty schemes — offline and online — convert points directly into cash, vouchers, or the like. But then again, most loyalty schemes offer a tiny, tiny, return.

Even if Steam did let you turn points into money — it doesn’t — you might have to spend a silly amount of money just to get one game. As is, it’s best to think of Steam Points as a nice bonus, but don’t let them sway you into spending more money than you normally would.

So, no, you can’t use Steam Points to buy games.