The Steam Summer Sale 2020 has arrived and it's got a bunch of great games on sale. That's not what we're talking about today, though — this new seasonal sale has also featured the debut of the Steam Points Shop.
The Steam Points Shop is an all-new feature that's arrived on Valve's digital distribution service. You don't even have to buy anything from the sale — anyone who has already made a purchase in the past may have already earned points in this system. For example, I have nearly 8,000 in my account and the sale's been live for just a few minutes.
Best of all, this new feature isn't going to be around for just the Summer Sale 2020 — the Points Shop is a permanent new addition to Steam.
How Does the Steam Points Shop Work?
The first thing you're probably going to want to know is how exactly you can get points. The easiest way is simply by purchasing things on Steam. I tested it out by buying a game for a friend and I earned points at a rate of 1 point to $0.01 — and it even counted the tax I paid!
If you're thinking about earning double points by loading up your Steam Wallet with cash, you should know that that won't work. You don't earn any points when you add money to your Steam Wallet. However, you will earn points when you make a qualifying purchase with your Steam Wallet balance.
Points can also be earned if someone grants an "Award" to one of your reviews or other pieces of community content. It costs 300 points to give an Award to someone, and the person receiving the Award will receive 100 points 30 days after it was given.
Once you have points, you can then use them to buy things on Steam. Don't get your hopes up, though — you won't be able to buy any games with them. Instead, you can get stickers, backgrounds, and other cosmetics for your Steam profile by spending points.
Check out the Steam Points Shop to see all of the things you can buy — do note, however, that it's a little bit broken at the moment and likely won't be running well for a little while. Don't forget to check out the Steam Summer Sale 2020, too!
Update: This article was updated to clarify how the Steam Wallet interacted with the Steam Points Shop in more depth.
What do you think of the Steam Points Shop? Do you think you'll make use of this feature? Let us know in the comments below!
