How to Redeem a Game Code on Any Console

Codes are how most gaming gifts arrive now, and every platform handles them slightly differently — different lengths, different menus, different words for the same button. None of it is difficult, but all of it is unfamiliar if you don’t play games, and the person unwrapping the gift often needs a hand.

Two rules apply everywhere before we get into the specifics. A code is tied to its platform — a Nintendo code will not work on a PlayStation, and no amount of retyping changes that. And a redeemed code belongs permanently to the account that redeemed it, so on a shared console it matters whose account is signed in.

Nintendo Switch

Open the Nintendo eShop on the console, select the account, and choose Enter Code. Nintendo’s codes are sixteen characters. It can also be done in a browser while signed into the Nintendo Account, which is handy when the console is somewhere else.

The thing that catches people out here is country. Nintendo Account balances and downloads are tied to the country the account is registered in, so a card bought abroad — or ordered from a foreign store — will be refused. Our guide to eShop cards goes through that properly, including what the money can and can’t buy.

Xbox

Xbox prepaid codes are 25 characters. They can be entered on the console, or by signing into the Microsoft account on Microsoft’s own redemption page in a browser — which is usually the quicker route, and the one we’d suggest if the console is being slow.

Xbox also has a proper gifting system, so a game may arrive as a gift rather than as a code. Our how to gift Xbox games guide covers both directions.

PlayStation

On a PS5, open the PlayStation Store, press the triangle button, then choose More and Redeem Code. PlayStation voucher codes are twelve digits, and they can also be redeemed in a web browser or in the PlayStation App. A game code adds the game to that account’s library; a gift-card code adds money to the wallet, which is then spent in the store.

PlayStation has no direct game-gifting button, which is why store cards are the standard route there — our how to gift PlayStation games guide explains what actually works instead.

Steam (PC)

In the Steam application, open the Games menu at the top and choose Activate a Product on Steam. Enter the code and the game is added to that account’s library permanently. Valve is explicit that this has to happen in the Steam application — the website can’t activate a game.

If the game arrived as a Steam gift rather than a code, there’s nothing to type at all — it appears as a notification with Accept and Decline buttons, and our how to accept a Steam gift guide covers that, including the thirty-day deadline.

When a code is rejected

Work through these in order — the first two account for the great majority.

1. A mistyped character. Zero versus the letter O, five versus S, one versus I. Codes avoid ambiguous characters where they can, but printed cards and scratch panels don’t always cooperate.
2. Wrong platform. The code is for a different system than the one you’re typing it into. Check the packaging or the order email.
3. Wrong country. Store accounts are region-based. A code bought in one country generally won’t redeem against an account registered in another.
4. Already redeemed. Either the code has been used, or — on a physical card — the panel was scratched and read by someone in a shop. If you’ve just bought it, keep the receipt and go back to the retailer.

If you’re giving the code rather than redeeming it

Two small things make an enormous difference. Print it and put it in a card, rather than forwarding an email — it gives them something to hold. And say what it’s for: “this is the game you mentioned” turns a string of characters into a present.

If the recipient is a child, send the code to a parent instead. Redeeming means signing into an account, and that goes more smoothly with an adult in the room.