Steam keys are the most popular location to buy PC games, but is it safe to do so? Let us investigate.
Because Steam keys are the de facto marketplace for PC video game purchases, chances are you use it to purchase at least some of your titles. However, before purchasing from any online store, it’s always a good idea to pause and inquire about the site’s security.
Let’s have a look at whether it’s safe to buy games through Steam.
Is It Safe to Purchase Games on Steam?
In a nutshell, purchasing video games via Steam is risk-free. We’ll explain why in more detail later, but first consider the larger picture.
Steam estimated that it would have up to 95 million monthly active users in 2019. At the time of writing, Alexa, a website popularity ranking service, had Steam rated 398 internationally (meaning only 397 websites in the entire world are more popular than Steam). Furthermore, Steam has been around since 2003. (though it started selling video games a bit later).
Such a large website would employ industry-standard security procedures to safeguard your information. If it weren’t, someone would have discovered it by now, which would have been a tremendous story.
In summary, if you’re comfortable shopping from other trustworthy online businesses such as Amazon and eBay, you shouldn’t have any reservations about purchasing games through Steam. There is always the possibility that one of these sites may be and will be exposing your information. However, when purchasing online, you must accept this.
Reasons for Steam’s Security
If the above foundations don’t convince you, let’s look at some particular ways that Steam is safe.
1. Steam Offers Dependable Security Tools
We’ve shown that Steam purchases are secure. However, that is not the only security component—you do not want someone to hack into your account and take control of it.
This is why Steam provides Steam Guard, a security tool that ensures you only use your account. It’s a type of two-factor authentication: in addition to your login and password, you’ll need to input a code from your email or the Steam mobile app to log in.
Steam, like other services, allows you to link your phone number to your account. It makes it easy to regain access if something goes wrong, such as losing your password or hijacking your account.
The Steam client also updates on its own, which helps to keep it safe. To learn more, see our introduction to Steam security.
2. HTTPS is used by Steam to secure purchases.
When you buy a game on Steam via your browser or the Steam client, your transaction is just as safe as any other website that employs contemporary HTTPS encryption. Your credit card information and the information you gave to Steam for your purchase are encrypted.
Implies that everything transferred to Steam’s servers is incomprehensible to anyone who could intercept it. The info is only visible to you and Steam.
See our explanation of website security certifications for more information.
3. Steam accepts PayPal and gift cards for payment
Even if you trust a website, you should avoid entering your credit card information on it. If someone obtains your credit card information and uses it on hundreds of websites, withdrawing the card from each one and determining where the breach occurred is a nuisance.
Allows you to buy games using your PayPal account without ever submitting your information to Steam. There is no added danger to utilizing PayPal on Steam if you already trust it with your payment information. Just make sure you choose a strong PayPal password to safeguard the critical information it contains.
If you don’t want to use PayPal, there is another way to buy games on Steam. May purchase physical Steam gift cards at places such as GameStop, Walmart, and drugstores. You may then pay cash at a store and redeem the gift card on Steam.
If you do purchase Steam gift card codes online, make sure you do it from a trusted since you might end yourself putting your credit card information on a scam site, obtaining a phony code, or never receiving a code at all.
4. Steam Provides Extensive Refunds
Another issue of “security” that you may overlook is regret purchasing games through Steam. It’s no fun to pay for a game only to discover that you despise it after an hour or two of play.
If this happens for whatever reason, Steam will be there for you. Whether your PC can’t run the game or you don’t like it, all you have to do is contact customer service to obtain a refund. The company will honor your refund request if you request it within two weeks of purchasing the game and have played it for less than two hours.
Steam is risk-free for PC gamers.
Hopefully, that Steam is a secure platform for purchasing games. Encryption protects your financial information, there are various security features to secure your account, and you may refund anything to avoid purchasing regret.
It would help if you didn’t have to worry about security on Steam as long as you avoid Steam scams and use common sense security. You may now acquire select games at a discount and start playing right away!
