Steam Changes Its Game Trading Policy

Valve has changed Steam's policy to disallow users from immediately trading games purchased as gifts.

The company made the announcement with brief post to the Steam Trading Cards Group page. "We've made this change to make trading gifts a better experience for those receiving the gifts," Valve said. "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."

Games purchased as gifts can still be gifted at any time, of course, but if you're just keeping the item in your inventory you won't be able to trade it for 30 days after purchase. Theoretically, this should help prevent cases where users buy games from third parties only to have those keys revoked, as was the case for some users who bought Sniper Elite III back in June.

If you're looking for great deals on Steam games, Steam is currently holding its Exploration-themed fall sale.