Valve has rolled out a small but highly practical update to Steam’s “Complete the Set” bundles, allowing players to gift a bundle to friends while automatically excluding any games or DLC the recipient already owns. First flagged by SteamDB, the change brings Steam’s popular pro-rated bundle pricing to gifting, cutting waste and making it easier to top up a friend’s library without paying for duplicates.
How the New Steam Bundle Gifting Feature Works
“Complete the Set” bundles on Steam calculate a personalized price by subtracting the cost of items already in a user’s library. With this update, that same logic now applies at checkout when you choose “Purchase as a gift.” Steam checks the recipient’s library, recalculates the total for only the missing items, and lets you send the bundle accordingly.
In practice, it means you can buy a friend a publisher pack or DLC collection and pay only for the gaps. No more crossing your fingers and hoping you didn’t just rebuy another copy of a game they’ve had for years. Valve’s Steamworks documentation has long described “Complete the Set” pricing for personal purchases; extending it to gifts is a quality-of-life move that aligns with how players actually buy during big sales.
Why Bundle Gifting Matters for DLC-Heavy Libraries
This is tailor-made for DLC ecosystems where add-ons pile up quickly. The Sims 4, for example, has dozens of expansions, game packs, and kits, with the all-in cost running into the four figures at full price. The ability to chip in for what a friend is missing—rather than navigating a maze of individual DLC pages—reduces friction and encourages more complete collections over time.
It’s also a win for classic multi-title bundles such as the Valve Complete Pack. Most longtime Steam users already own a handful of the included games. Now you can gift the pack and only pay for the remaining titles, rather than dodging duplicates like Left 4 Dead or Portal that your friend inevitably owns.
Industry trackers like Newzoo and Ampere Analysis have repeatedly noted that ongoing content—DLC and live-service add-ons—dominates player spending on PC and console. Bringing smarter, pro-rated gifting into that mix nudges attach rates higher without adding complexity. It’s the kind of incremental store update that can have an outsized effect during seasonal sales.
Rollout Status and Current Limitations for Gifting
Early user reports suggest the feature is rolling out broadly but not perfectly. Some bundles may not yet support pro-rated gifting in certain territories. If a recipient keeps their library private or uses alternate content settings, Steam may still allow the gift to go through, and it’s then up to the recipient to decline it manually if there’s a mismatch.
As with all Steam gifts, standard region-locks and currency rules apply. If an item in the bundle is unavailable or restricted in the recipient’s region, Steam may block or adjust the transaction. SteamDB’s backend monitoring indicates the capability is live for many “Complete the Set” configurations, but expect occasional edge cases as publishers update their bundle settings.
What the Change Means for Publishers and Seasonal Sales
Pro-rated gifting should improve conversion on large catalogs and older backlists, especially during discounts when players like to round out collections for friends. It reduces the psychological hurdle of “overpaying” for duplicates in bundles and aligns incentives for both sides: givers spend only on missing content, while publishers still move catalog at scale.
Steam’s audience is massive—concurrent user records topped 35 million in 2024 according to SteamDB—so even a marginal uptick in bundle gifting can be meaningful. Expect DLC-heavy publishers (think Paradox or EA’s Sims franchise) to benefit as social buying and wishlists converge around plug-and-play bundle gaps.
Tips to Get the Most From Bundle Gifting
- Check the bundle type: look for “Complete the Set” language on the store page, which signals pro-rated pricing. Not every bundle uses this structure.
- Coordinate with wishlists: a recipient’s wishlist is a quick way to prioritize missing DLC or series entries, especially during major sales.
- Mind the region: if you and your friend are in different countries, verify regional availability before purchase to avoid blocked items.
- Watch for sale stacking: bundle discounts and store-wide sales can combine for substantial savings on remaining items, particularly in publisher events.
- Have a plan B: if Steam allows a gift that turns out to be redundant, the recipient can decline it, and standard Steam gift and refund policies will apply where eligible.
It’s a straightforward tweak, but it solves a long-standing pain point. Gifting bundles on Steam now works the way players expect—buy what’s missing, skip what’s not—and that’s the kind of change that sticks.