Valve has rolled out a new Steam update that changes how players organize wishlists and send gifts. The update adds custom wishlist categories, guest checkout for gifts, email gifting, and cross-region gifting. It also introduces smaller wishlist upgrades like demo tracking and hover trailers.
The changes went live on July 22 and 23, 2026. Valve announced them in two separate posts on the Steam news page.
Steam Wishlist Categories Explained
The biggest wishlist change lets players sort their list into custom categories. Users can create their own tags and apply them to any game already on their wishlist.
For example, a player could label games as “buy day one,” “wait for sale,” or “watching early access.” These tags then appear as filter tabs at the top of the wishlist page.
Valve said players had asked for more ways to manage growing wishlists, beyond the existing ranking and filtering tools. Once a category has been used, it shows up in the “Add to Wishlist” dropdown on game store pages. This lets players sort new additions right away instead of tagging them later.
Players can also set wishlist notifications to apply only to specific categories.
New Wishlist Search and Browsing Features
Alongside categories, Steam has upgraded wishlist search with autocomplete. Games that have a demo available are now marked directly on the wishlist, and players can turn on notifications for when a new demo goes live.
The update also adds microtrailers. These are short clips that play automatically when a player hovers over a game’s image in their wishlist. Valve says browsing between pages should now do a better job of returning players to where they left off.
Sharing a Wishlist Category
Steam already allowed players to share their full wishlist. Now, players can share just one category using a custom link.
Anyone who receives that link can view the selected games, even if the rest of the wishlist stays private. This makes it easier to send a specific list, such as a birthday wishlist, without showing everything else saved on the account. Players can revoke the shared link at any time to stop it from being used again.
Steam Gifting Update
The gifting changes address a long-standing limitation. Previously, sending a Steam gift meant knowing the recipient’s Steam account name and being friends with them on the platform.
Guest checkout was, until now, only available for digital gift cards and hardware. Valve has extended it to cover any game on Steam. This means a gift can now be sent to someone who does not have a Steam account at all.
If a recipient opens a shared wishlist link, they can click “Purchase as a gift” directly from that page. This auto-fills the required details, without needing a Steam account or a friend connection.
Email Gifting and Cross-Region Purchases
Steam has also introduced email gifting. Players can send a game purchase straight to an email address, even one not linked to the recipient’s Steam account. This works well for players who want to send a surprise without asking for account details first.
Email gifts come with a few conditions. They are automatically refunded if not accepted within 30 days, cannot be scheduled for future delivery, and must go to someone in the sender’s own region.
Cross-region gifting is also now available. This lets players send a gift to a friend in a different region, with Steam charging the price set for that recipient’s region. This can mean paying more than the sender would for their own copy of the game. Using this feature requires the sender and recipient to already be Steam friends, since Steam needs to confirm the recipient’s account region.
Together, these changes remove several long-standing friction points around gifting on Steam. Players no longer need to trade account names or add each other as friends just to send a game. Guest checkout and email gifting open the door to gifting for people outside a sender’s existing friend list.
