Gift as a key

[tomejto]

Hi,
is it possible to buy a game from steam as a key to gift for a friend? I don't have his steam account in my friend list and if I add him now he will know that I'm trrying to gift him a game - there will be no surprise, is it possible to do it another way?

[magicISO Sweden]

no but you can gift a game if you have that person on your friends list

[Ogami]

No, that is not possible. The only way to buy a game on Steam for someone else is as a "gift", meaning you send them the game directly to their Steam account.
But they have to be on your friend list to do so.

If you want to get a Steam key for a game to give away you need to buy on third party reseller stores.
https://isthereanydeal.com/ is a good hub site to start, all reseller stores listed there are legit and authorized by the game publisher/Steam.
Just buy a key for the game in question and give it to your friend to activate.

[tomejto]

What about a gift card? Like from steam, do I get the code or I'm transferring money to his wallet?

[Anonymous Helper]

Originally posted by tomejto:

What about a gift card? Like from steam, do I get the code or I'm transferring money to his wallet?

Same as with games. You send digital wallet gift and when recipient accepts it, the funds are added to their wallet. Do note that digital wallet gift cards can only be purchased with external payment methods. Wallet funds can't be used to purchase gift cards.