This would likely do more harm than good - plenty of people buy large piles of Steam keys through legitimate sources like the Humble Store or the various bundle sites, and it’s not in anyone’s best interest to cut those users off from games they paid for.
(Also, there are already soft caps - you can only activate so many keys within a short period of time, which I’ve run into quite a few times while redeeming accumulated bundle games - but I’m guessing you mean something long-term.)
Rather than implementing caps on activating keys, I’d like to see Steam reimplement account-linking through OAuth (or an alternative method) and require one-click activation systems for games purchased or received outside of their storefront, like how Humble Bundles worked for a while. It’d be more convenient for legitimate customers, and would likely be instant death for key resellers.
It sounds like no one’s really missing out on much by losing email gifts, then. It’s not exactly an ordeal to friend someone and then send them a gift, and you can’t accidentally send them a game they already own if they’re on your friends list.
Well this is assuming a person already has Steam. The problem is, I’ve actually purchased gifts for people who do not consider themselves gamers… and that was the first Steam game they ever had. In fact, they didn’t know what Steam was until I introduced it to them. What better way to introduce someone to Steam than gifting them a game I know they’ll like?
Puzzle Quest, World of Goo… usually those kind of games introduce new gamers, Ticket to Ride… so on. Suddenly they’re telling me three years later about Stardew Valley and Civ City Rome.
As much as I’m onboard with the idea of getting a friend into PC gaming with a quick Steam gift, it’s become increasingly unlikely that anyone who would theoretically be part of the audience Valve is interested in doesn’t already have a Steam account. They seem totally uninterested in acquisition.
I think this attitude is why gamers often wonder why non-gamers don’t understand gaming communities. Adding new people to gaming isn’t just about introducing adolescent boys to games. There are plenty of adults who just never had the opportunity to try a game… and guess what, almost all of them have laptops and PCs. I work in IT. I’d say about 70% of the people I work with don’t play games on anything. When they hear the rest of us talking about them, sometimes they’re interested. I think it’s a poor outlook to think that introducing them to games isn’t worth anyone’s time.
I hadn’t actively noticed that multi-copy bundles were already gone, but it makes sense when you consider yesterday’s change was almost certainly planned months in advance.
