Valve Corporation’s Steam platform has quietly introduced UPI (Unified Payments Interface) payment support for Indian users, marking the end of a long-standing issue that has frustrated the gaming community for years. The feature appears to have been rolled out without fanfare, with users discovering the new payment option during recent transactions.
The move comes after years of vocal demands from India’s gaming community, who have repeatedly called for the integration of the country’s most widely-used digital payment system. Steam, which counts India among its largest user bases globally, had previously relied on problematic third-party payment gateways that often left users unable to complete purchases.
Breaking Down the Barriers
Steam’s relationship with Indian payment methods has been rocky. The platform’s previous attempt at UPI integration through payment partner Novaplay was widely criticized by users as unreliable and unstable. Users on reddit frequently reported payment gateway failures, delays in crediting Steam Wallet funds and general instability that made the service barely functional. This forced many Indian gamers to rely on workarounds, purchasing Steam wallet codes from third-party platforms like Amazon Pay or JioGames – a cumbersome process that added extra steps and often additional costs to game purchases.
Steam’s UPI integration brings the platform in line with other major gaming companies that had already recognized the importance of India’s digital payment ecosystem. Epic Games Store and Ubisoft implemented UPI payment options before Steam, putting pressure on Valve to address the gap in its payment infrastructure. The delay had become increasingly glaring as UPI transactions in India crossed 8 billion in 2024, making it the country’s dominant digital payment method. Other international platforms including Google Play Store, Amazon Prime and Netflix had long supported UPI, making Steam’s absence particularly noticeable.
The new UPI integration allows Indian users to pay directly through their preferred UPI apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, or any bank’s UPI service. While the new implementation still relies on a third party – Komoju, early users report that the payment process is smooth and nearly instantaneous, a stark contrast to the previous Novaplay experience.
Why This Matters Now
The launch comes at a crucial time when India’s gaming market is experiencing unprecedented growth. With mobile gaming adoption soaring and PC gaming finally gaining some momentum, Steam’s UPI integration positions the platform to capture a larger share of the Indian PC/handheld gaming market. For now, Indian gamers are simply relieved to have a payment method that works reliably. After years of workarounds and technical frustrations, Steam’s UPI integration represents a return to basics – letting users focus on gaming rather than payment problems.
Steam’s adoption of UPI could encourage other international gaming platforms to prioritize Indian payment methods, potentially making UPI integration a standard requirement for global gaming services targeting the Indian market. The move also positions Steam to better compete with mobile gaming ecosystems that have long benefited from UPI’s convenience and widespread adoption.
