Steam and Xbox Gift a Game; Sony and Nintendo Sell Cards

Update, 10 November 2026. Nintendo announced on 9 November that the eShop on Switch and Switch 2 will let members of a Nintendo Account family group gift digital games to each other from 16 November, on system version 23.5.0 or greater. Until then, Nintendo’s support answer quoted below still applies; from 16 November it holds only for people outside your family group.

You can gift a specific digital game on Steam and on Xbox, but not through Nintendo’s eShop, and Sony’s own answer for PlayStation is a gift card. Steam sends the game to someone on your Friends List; Microsoft emails a redeemable code to any address in your own country or region.

For PS5 and Switch, the gift is credit or a code: a PlayStation Store gift card, or a Nintendo eShop card or a retail download code.

The four stores side by side

Platform	Buy a specific game for someone?	How it arrives	Limits the store states
Steam	Yes, for anyone on your Steam Friends List	In their Steam account, with an email; schedule up to 12 months ahead	30 days to accept; some gifts blocked across purchase regions; DLC needs the base game; some titles and bundles cannot be gifted
Xbox (Microsoft Store)	Yes, where the page shows Buy as gift	A code emailed to one address; where available, schedule up to a year ahead	Same country or region; a cap on gifts sent, then a wait of up to 30 days; child accounts may need an adult to change settings
PlayStation	Sony’s answer is a PlayStation Store gift card	An emailed voucher or printable PDF with a 12-digit code	Codes work only in the same PlayStation Store region; content and funds cannot move between accounts
Nintendo Switch	No: Nintendo says the eShop cannot send gifts	A Nintendo eShop card or a download code bought from a retailer	eShop cards work only for the country or region they were sold for

Steam: a gift to a friend, with a 30-day window

Valve’s steps are short: add the game to your cart, choose This is a gift, select the recipient from your Friends List, then send it at once or schedule it. Valve allows scheduling “up to 12 months from the purchase date”.

The recipient then has 30 days. If they decline, Valve refunds you automatically; if they do nothing for 30 days, “Steam will automatically cancel the purchase and issue you a refund”. Once accepted, the game is “permanently added to the Steam account that it was redeemed on”.

When a friend’s name is greyed out, Valve lists the usual reasons: they already own the game, a regional price difference blocks the gift, the item is DLC for a game they do not own, it is a “Complete Your Collection” bundle, or the title is one that “may not be gifted”. You can only gift new purchases, so a game already in your library cannot be passed on, which is the licence terms Valve and Sony write into every purchase at work.

Refunds follow Valve’s usual rule: within 14 days of purchase and under two hours played “by the gift recipient”. If the gift has been redeemed, the recipient has to approve the refund on Steam’s help site before you can request it. Because that clock starts at your purchase, a gift bought weeks early can leave the refund window before it is opened.

Xbox: a code to an email address

On the Microsoft Store, a game that can be gifted shows a Buy as gift option on its page; Microsoft says to “check the product page” if it is missing. The Microsoft Gift Terms say you name “a single Gift recipient using the individual’s email address”, and that person receives a code.

Anyone with that email can redeem the code, and Microsoft “does not control whether the recipient elects to redeem the Gift or pass it along to others”. Giver and recipient must be “in the same country/region”.

Two limits catch people. Microsoft caps how many digital gifts an account can send; if you hit it, “you may have to wait up to 30 days before you try again”. And a child’s account may block the download by maturity rating until a parent changes the family settings. Fortnite V-Bucks and other virtual currencies cannot be gifted.

Refunds are tighter than Steam’s: an unredeemed gift within 14 days of purchase, and none at all once redeemed. Gifted subscriptions run only for the period bought; if you are gifting one, what each Game Pass tier includes is worth checking first.

PlayStation: a gift card

Sony’s US gift-card page asks “Can I gift games on PlayStation?” and answers: “PlayStation Store gift cards are the go-to way of gifting digital games on PS5, PS5 Pro and PS4.” It offers the card as an emailed voucher or a printable PDF, sold through a third party, CashStar, or at retailers. None of the PlayStation pages we read describes buying a particular game for someone else’s account.

The recipient enters the 12-digit code under Redeem Code on PlayStation Store and can spend it on games, add-ons or a PlayStation Plus membership. Sony’s voucher help says codes “can only be redeemed in the same PlayStation Store region”, and a code redeemed on the wrong account cannot be moved: “It’s not possible to transfer funds or content between accounts.” For a child’s account, a family manager in the US may need to relax age filtering to redeem a code for an age-rated game.

Nintendo Switch: an eShop card or a download code

Nintendo’s answer is a flat no: “It is not possible to send a gift in the Nintendo eShop (on-device or off-device).” It suggests a prepaid Nintendo eShop card, or a download code for select games from authorized retailers. Nintendo says eShop cards work only for the country or region they were sold for, and it will not replace or refund one bought for the wrong region.

Virtual game cards are not a gift either. Nintendo lets you lend one to a member of your Nintendo Account family group for 14 days, with both consoles close together, and you cannot play it while it is lent. The game stays yours.

Which to choose

If the person plays on Steam or Xbox and you know they do not own the game, a direct gift arrives as the game itself. Otherwise, or on PlayStation and Switch, a card in the right region lets them choose, and on Steam it skips the friend-list step: Valve sells digital Steam Gift Cards that a buyer without a Steam account can buy as a guest. For family in another country, what is and is not region-locked on each console decides which card to buy.

Questions people ask

Can you gift a game on PS5?

Not as a specific game, on the PlayStation pages we read. Sony answers “Can I gift games on PlayStation?” with PlayStation Store gift cards, sent as an emailed voucher or a printable PDF. The recipient redeems the 12-digit code and picks the game.

How do you gift a game on Steam?

Add the game to your cart, choose This is a gift, then pick the recipient from your Steam Friends List. You can send it now or schedule it up to 12 months ahead. The recipient has 30 days to accept it.

Can you gift Switch games?

Not through the eShop. Nintendo says “It is not possible to send a gift in the Nintendo eShop (on-device or off-device)”. It suggests a Nintendo eShop Card or a download code for select games from an authorized retailer instead.

How do I gift an Xbox game to someone?

On the game’s page in the Microsoft Store, look for Buy as gift and enter the recipient’s email address. They get a code to redeem on their Microsoft account. You both have to be in the same country or region.

Can I gift a game I already own?

No, on Steam: Valve says you may only gift new purchases and may not transfer games you already own. A Steam multipack bought for your own account is the exception Valve describes, because its extra copies can be gifted.

Can I get a refund on a gifted game?

On Steam, within 14 days of purchase and under two hours played by the recipient; if it was redeemed, the recipient has to agree first. On Xbox, only while unredeemed and within 14 days.

Can you gift a game to someone in another country?

Often not. Microsoft requires the same country or region. Steam says some gifts cannot go to other purchase regions. PlayStation and Nintendo gift cards work only in the store region they were sold for.