Many players automatically sign user agreements. However, in recent years, some have increasingly begun to study the legal documents they previously accepted and find various surprises there.
Recently, an update to the rules regarding payments and the Steam Wallet attracted the attention of players from Japan. These changes were made back in April 2026, but information about them has only now become widely known.
The new rule grants Valve the right to cancel funds deposited into the wallet if the account holder does not spend them within 6 months from the date of deposit:
According to Japanese law, funds added to the Steam wallet will be canceled if not used within six months from the date of deposit. You can check the balance and validity period of funds in the wallet in your Steam account.
This innovation is related to the specifics of the Japanese Payment Services Act, which regulates prepaid payment instruments in online games, including in-game currency, and obliges operators to comply with a number of requirements:
These include notifying the financial bureau, reserving funds if the amount of unused balances exceeds 10 million yen, providing players with necessary information, as well as additional responsibilities — for example, ensuring data security and handling complaints.
Lawyers note that non-compliance with requirements, especially the lack of fund reservation, can lead to penalties for operators — fines, imprisonment, suspension of sales.
The Japanese publication Automaton sent an inquiry to Steam support. Representatives of the Valve service said that in practice, the 'expiration date' for funds on the balance has not yet been applied, and specific launch dates for this system have not yet been determined:
Currently, there is only legal provision for the possibility of 'canceling funds in the Steam wallet after 6 months,' but the actual implementation of this measure has not yet occurred.