Steam Points Shop Guide: How to Earn Points and Customize Your Profile

1. What is the Steam Points Shop?

The Steam Points Shop is a permanent customization marketplace launched by Valve in 2020.

Previously, players had to buy trading cards on the Community Market and craft badges to randomly obtain profile decorations. The Points Shop streamlined this process, allowing players to directly redeem Steam Points for thousands of virtual personalization items.

2. How to Earn Steam Points

Accumulating Steam Points is straightforward and occurs through two main activities:

🛒 1. Shopping on the Steam Store

Whenever you make a purchase on Steam (including games, DLCs, soundtracks, or adding funds to your Steam Wallet), you earn points automatically.

Conversion Rate: For every $1.00 USD spent, you receive 100 Steam Points (adjusted proportionally for regional currencies, e.g., NT$ 30 = 100 points).

Note: If you refund a game, the points generated from that purchase will be deducted from your points balance.

🏆 2. Receiving Community Awards (Free Method)

If you write helpful reviews, upload screenshots, or create popular workshop mods, other users can award your content with Community Awards.

Receiving an award grants you a portion of the points spent on the award (typically credited to your account after 14 days). This is the best way to earn points without spending money.

3. What Can You Buy in the Points Shop?

All items in the Points Shop are purely cosmetic and do not affect gameplay, but they make your Steam profile stand out:

1. 👤 Profile Customization

Animated Avatars & Avatar Frames: Add animation and glowing borders to your profile picture.

Animated Backgrounds: Customize the backdrop of your profile with animated loops like falling snow, space nebulae, or fire.

Mini-Profile Backgrounds: Show off a unique micro-background when other users hover over your name in their friends list.

2. 💬 Chat Room Items

Access animated stickers, emojis, and custom chat room skins themed after your favorite games.

3. 🏅 Seasonal Badges

Purchase Points Shop Badges to gain Steam Account XP, which increases your Steam Level and expands your maximum friends list limit.

4. Important Things to Know About Redeeming Points

Non-Marketable and Non-Transferable: Items redeemed via the Points Shop are permanently tied to your account. They cannot be traded, gifted, or sold on the Steam Community Market.

Keep Forever: Redeemed cosmetic items have no expiration date. They remain available in your account settings indefinitely, allowing you to swap themes whenever you wish.