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Do Steam Wallet Funds Expire After Six Months? What Valve’s Agreement Says

By Freedom251 Team · · 2 min read

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Not for everyone, according to the agreement’s wording. Valve’s Steam Subscriber Agreement states that funds added to the Steam Wallet by Japanese subscribers expire if they are not used within six months of being added. The clause is expressly headed “For Japanese Subscribers”; it does not establish a universal six-month expiry rule for all players.

What the six-month clause actually says

Under “For Japanese Subscribers,” Valve’s Steam Subscriber Agreement says: “Any funds added to your Steam Wallet that you have not used within six (6) months following the date you added them will expire, as required by Japanese law.” The same paragraph says users can review their funds and their expiration dates in the Steam Wallet in their Steam account. Valve’s Steam Subscriber Agreement

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The clause measures six months from the date funds are added. It does not say the period begins with the last time a player logs in or that account inactivity itself triggers expiry. Nor does its wording say that spending one deposit resets the deadline for other deposits; it refers to funds and their respective addition dates.

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Does this apply to every Steam user?

The surfaced clause is expressly scoped to Japanese subscribers. It is therefore accurate to describe it as a Japan-specific term, not as a policy that Valve takes every player’s wallet balance after six months. The agreement attributes the term to Japanese law, but the clause alone does not establish the specific statute or how that law applies in individual cases.

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For subscribers outside the expressly named scope, this passage does not establish that their funds expire after six months. Valve’s Steam Support page discusses wallet currency and existing balances, but does not independently state a six-month expiry rule. Steam Support’s Steam Wallet guidance

Expiry is different from account cancellation

The agreement also contains separate terms allowing Valve to restrict or cancel accounts or subscriptions in specified circumstances, including breaches of the agreement. It says unused Wallet funds will not be refunded when cancellation follows a breach or improper or illegal activity. That is distinct from the Japan-specific expiry clause: it does not turn the six-month period into a general inactivity deadline for all accounts.

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How to check for an expiration date

For the funds covered by the Japanese clause, Valve says expiration dates can be reviewed in the Steam Wallet in the account. Check the balance and listed dates there rather than assuming the clock runs from a recent login or from a single combined balance date.

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What Steam Wallet funds are

Valve describes the Wallet as a prepaid account balance used to order Steam content and services, and says it can also be used to purchase hardware. The agreement generally treats added funds as non-refundable and non-transferable, subject to exceptions in the agreement, and says they have no cash value outside Steam. Those general terms do not change the Japan-specific scope of the six-month expiry language.

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