Steam customers can now purchase games, software, and hardware using bitcoin. BitPay manages the payment processing through the store. Leaks and official hints made this outcome unsurprising. In Febr
Steam customers can now purchase games, software, and hardware using bitcoin. BitPay manages the payment processing through the store.
Leaks and official hints made this outcome unsurprising. In February, code buried in Valve's translation application revealed development work on bitcoin integration. A Steam developer mentioned the feature in a developer forum, signaling its arrival to game makers. This week, BitPay announced the partnership. According to the company, Valve wanted to expand Steam's reach to customers in countries where credit card infrastructure remains weak or unavailable.
We tested the feature ourselves and verified it works. Steam's implementation differs from Microsoft's earlier bitcoin option. Microsoft required customers to prepay their store account in $10 increments before purchasing. Steam lets buyers pay in bitcoin for each game, or mix bitcoin with another payment method for a single purchase.
Steam ranks as the world's largest PC game distributor. The platform operates in 237 countries and reports more than 89 million subscribers. Valve also announced plans to add LionsGate films to the platform.
Valve does not hold bitcoin. Game developers receive dollars, not cryptocurrency, as BitPay converts transactions. Developers who see bitcoin payments work might want to accept the currency themselves. Some could then sell games to customers on their own, eliminating the middleman and its fees. No one knows if that will happen.
The world's largest PC gaming distribution platform now accepts the world's most valuable digital currency. For bitcoin holders, that marks a significant moment.
