Steam CD-key issued by game developers or publishers to sell their game on online game retailers is a code that can be registered on Steam.

It is a combination of letters and numbers, usually consists of 15 letters in total.

[Example: ABC12-345DE-F67GH]

(1) You can buy games at a low price! Occasionally, official retailers sell products at a lower price than Steam stores, either as a single product or as a bundle discount. For example, Steam stores offer a 75% discount, but retail stores offer a 80% discount or more, so I recommend you to compare the prices in several retailers before purchasing them.

(2) In addition to the regular sale period (summer, winter sale, etc.), you can buy games at discount prices at retail stores even though it’s not a regular Steam sale period! If you missed the Steam sales, go to the retail store website. The game key that you’re looking for may be on sale at the store. Each store has different discount products and discount rates, so I recommend you to know several places and compare them.

(3) You can collect games that went down from Steam store. If you are a game collector, registering the Steam key allows you to activate games that went down from(no longer available) Steam store.

(4) Some region-locked games can be registered on your account. Unless game developers or distributors intentionally impose a region-lock on Steam store + steam key itself on your region, it is very likely that the steam key can be registered in your account.(if only store restrictions are imposed, not Buy or Run restrict)

(1) In the menu bar at the top left of Steam client, press “Games.”

(2) Click “Activate a Product on Steam.”
The following box will appear.


(3) Enter the key code issued and press “Confirm.”


Then, the activation successful message will appear on your account as follows.

Now, you can play this game!

After activating the code, please double-check your “Licenses and product key activations” to see if it's properly registered on your account.

※ or you can also activate it on Steam website.
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/2A12-9D79-C3D7-F870
You can click the link above and activate a product code by clicking “here” in the browser registration section below.

Check out SteamDB website before purchasing Steam keys.

You can check if Steam key is genuine or appropriate for your Steam account(store country).

This will prevent errors mentioned later.

Suppose you want to purchase Sleeping Dogs: Definite Edition

From SteamDB website, go to Sleeping Dogs: Definite Edition web page.
Click “Packages” in the banner on the left. Then you can check the list of different packages + bundles that have this main game.



Check here to see if the Billing Type has a Cd-key. This means that the corresponding products are being sold as steam keys. And SUBID is the package's unique ID.


Let's click 51329 at the top. Click “Information” in the banner on the left.

As you can see, this package cannot be activated and purchased in Germany, nor can you even play games in Germany (Run-restricted is irrelevant to your Steam store country. It will judge by your computer's physical location.)

Now let's press “App” button.

There's a game in it. This means that you can get 1 Game+ no dlc per by activating the key of this package.

Before purchasing Steam keys, take a closer look at the restrictions and contents of the package.

If you know the package information and license name well by using SteamDB, it will be very helpful to solve issues when you argue with a seller in the event of a key-related problem in the future.

Sometimes, when you activate a steam key, you get following errors.

In fact, if you buy it from an official retailer, there will be no problem.

However, this is often the case when you purchase from a third-party market, such as grey markets(reseller platform), which is not an authorized retailer.

To avoid these problems and purchase legitimate and working Steam keys, make sure that the store is from an official retailer with an official sales contract with game companies in advance.

※ You can check the list by searching Google for “official licensed Steam retailers/stores.”
※ To prevent this guide from becoming commercial, I will not mention any official retailer’s name.

(1) Duplicate Steam key

That Steam key has already registered on another Steam account. Once the key was registered on another account, the code cannot be re-used.

(2) Revoked Keys




Sometimes Steam keys are revoked by game developers or publishers for some reason.
This usually the case when a key is obtained by stolen credit cards or fraudulent activities.
Or there is problem processing payment for game, or a key for beta testing is revoked by publisher when a beta-testing period is over.

In any case, solutions are same. contact the seller to discuss a refund or exchange.
And refrain from buying at stores that are not official retailers.

※ Google “official Steam retailers” and check whether it's an official retailer before buying products!

Most stores, which are usually selling keys at over-cheap prices than the current market price, are likely grey markets for resellers.

They're usually:

1. They bought game keys in bulk with stolen credit cards and sell them to you.
In this case, the Steam key may be revoked afterwards, and furthermore, your account may be involved in fraud and your account cab be permanently locked.

2. Buy keys cheaply in poor countries by abusing regional pricing policies and sell them to you. That's why keys with region-locked are sometimes delivered.

3. Stock up keys at a low discount price at an official retail store and resell them at higher prices. This disrupts the market price.

Let's list each of the [problems] caused by this.

In case 1, Steam key can be revoked even after purchase, and furthermore, your account may further be involved in fraudulent activity and it can be temporarily or permanently locked.

Number 2 and 3 disrupt international game distribution networks and market prices. In particular, developers often issue steam keys with region restrictions to prevent such behavior. A key with regional restrictions may not be registered on your account if your store country is not match with available countries with Steam key.

In addition, purchasing from reseller key shops often results in problems with already-used, region-locked, and withdrawn codes by the seller's mistake, and the buyer is solely responsible for proving and resolving these issues.

In other words, steam keys purchased through this route are NOT safe at all.

I highly recommend that you purchase from an official retailer/store if possible!

As mentioned earlier, game keys also have different selling prices(regional pricing) between regions/countries.

Therefore, in order to prevent resellers from buying in poor countries at low prices and reselling keys, some game publishers impose region restrictions on Steam keys.

There are three main regional restrictions.
1. Store Restrict: Steam store access is restricted. Usually, it was sold at first, but then later unavailable on Steam store for some reason. In this case, it is often possible to activate the game with a steam key.
2. Buy Restrict: This is the most common region restriction mentioned between users. Your account store country must be in purchasable country of the key.
3. Run Restrict: This is further from buy restrict. Physical location of your computer must be in playable country of the key(license).

To avoid these region restrictions, you must check SteamDB website for license information before purchasing Steam key.

Knowing this information will be of great help to resolve an issue with a seller in the event of key-related problems.

This is all about Steam Key.

Thanks for reading my guide!

Also, refer to the links below for more information.
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E71-0971-324A-1161
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/2A12-9D79-C3D7-F870