Please Enable Booster Pack Creation for Free to Play (Valve Documentary 2014)

[Cur1ey]

Hello Valve team and fellow community members,

I would like to respectfully request that Steam enable Booster Pack creation for <Free to Play>, the official Valve documentary released in 2014.

Although trading cards for <Free to Play> were once available, they are no longer obtainable by any means — no drops, no market replenishment, and Booster Pack Creator is currently disabled. This makes it impossible for users to complete badges, including foil badges, unless they already own the cards.

For many of us who have been part of the Dota 2 community over a decade ago, Free to Play represents more than just a film — it’s a reminder of where competitive gaming came from, and how far it has come.
It captured a moment when esports was just beginning to be taken seriously, and when many of us were first discovering the joy of being part of something bigger than ourselves.
Even if we no longer play daily, the memories remain vivid — friends we played with, tournaments we watched, moments that defined a generation of gamers.

Being able to earn the Free to Play badge, even now, would be a meaningful way for veterans of the scene to honor those memories and preserve a piece of our shared history on Steam.

Allowing us to craft booster packs using Steam Gems would be a minimal-impact solution that revives access to these cards without requiring gameplay changes or enabling new drops. Even a limited-time activation would be appreciated.

Thank you for considering this suggestion. I hope others who share these memories will lend their support as well.

Best regards,

[Ettanin]

you gain these cards for making in-app purchases using Steam instead.

[Cur1ey]

Originally posted by Ettanin:

you gain these cards for making in-app purchases using Steam instead.

Thanks for your reply!

Unfortunately, <Free to Play> doesn’t have any in-app purchases, so that method doesn’t apply here. I fully understand that releasing new updates or DLCs for Free to Play — which is a documentary, not a traditional game — is very unlikely and probably not practical for Valve.

My suggestion is specifically about enabling the Booster Pack Creator, so that players can use Steam Gems to craft card packs and complete badges — even if card drops remain disabled.

[JPMcMillen]

Seeing how none of the cards, emoticons, or backgrounds even show up in the marketplace, were any cards actually ever given out? Even if you can't purchase them now, if they ever appeared on the marketplace in the past you should still be able to find a listing for those items with none available to purchase.

Also, the store listing for the film doesn't show trading cards as a feature. It almost sounds like they planned to make it a thing, but never actually did it.

[Cur1ey]

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

Seeing how none of the cards, emoticons, or backgrounds even show up in the marketplace, were any cards actually ever given out? Even if you can't purchase them now, if they ever appeared on the marketplace in the past you should still be able to find a listing for those items with none available to purchase.

Also, the store listing for the film doesn't show trading cards as a feature. It almost sounds like they planned to make it a thing, but never actually did it.

Thanks for raising that — it's a fair question.

Yes, <Free to Play> did have trading cards in the past, and some players were able to earn or craft badges, including foil ones.

You may still find users who own the badge on their profile, and a few card artworks have been archived online (e.g. on third-party sites like SteamCardExchange).

Although it's hard to find active listings or badge holders now due to how much time has passed, the fact that <Free to Play> items like backgrounds and emoticons are still redeemable in the Points Shop confirms that the trading card system for this title was fully implemented at one point.Also, some of the <Free to Play> community items — like emoticons and profile backgrounds — are still available today through the Steam Points Shop.

For example, I have one of the backgrounds in my inventory right now, which confirms these assets were fully released and integrated with the trading card system at the time.
It’s just the cards and booster crafting that have become inaccessible over time.

As for why no listings appear on the marketplace anymore:
It’s likely because Free to Play may have had a paid DLC or limited unlock mechanism at launch that enabled card drops, but at some point in the past, VALVE made the film completely free with no monetization attached.
Once that happened, there was no longer any way for users to generate new cards, and over time, the existing ones simply disappeared from marketplace.

This is why I'm suggesting a minimal step like re-enabling Booster Pack Creator — no changes to the game, no new content needed, just a system-level adjustment to help long-time players preserve a small piece of Steam history.

[JPMcMillen]

Originally posted by Cur1ey:

Although it's hard to find active listings or badge holders now due to how much time has passed, the fact that <Free to Play> items like backgrounds and emoticons are still redeemable in the Points Shop confirms that the trading card system for this title was fully implemented at one point.Also, some of the <Free to Play> community items — like emoticons and profile backgrounds — are still available today through the Steam Points Shop.

For example, I have one of the backgrounds in my inventory right now, which confirms these assets were fully released and integrated with the trading card system at the time.
It’s just the cards and booster crafting that have become inaccessible over time.

As for why no listings appear on the marketplace anymore:
It’s likely because Free to Play may have had a paid DLC or limited unlock mechanism at launch that enabled card drops, but at some point in the past, VALVE made the film completely free with no monetization attached.
Once that happened, there was no longer any way for users to generate new cards, and over time, the existing ones simply disappeared from marketplace.

This is why I'm suggesting a minimal step like re-enabling Booster Pack Creator — no changes to the game, no new content needed, just a system-level adjustment to help long-time players preserve a small piece of Steam history.

Here's the thing, while there may not be anything for sale in the marketplace, if an item was ever listed there, the entry will still show even if there aren't any available to purchase. I've seen this from plenty of games that were banned and all items became unmarketable but the item entries still show in the marketplace. Even Steam Card Exchange says there haven't been cards available for this game.

I also don't believe that just because there are point shop items for a game it automatically means that trading cards were ever available. It could be possible for a game to release with just point shop items and no cards, badges, or emoticons and backgrounds from creating such badges. Maybe Valve made them available there since there wasn't any way to get them from creating badges.