Steam chocolate tier Christmas gifts for developers, Digi Mart USA News: Success on Steam is reportedly marked not only by sales figures and review scores but also by a Christmas gift. According to a report from Notebookcheck, Valve sends boxes of chocolates along with greeting cards to selected partners at the end of the year.
Among developers, the practice has become known as the “Chocolate Tier”, a informal label suggesting that generating enough revenue places a developer in the chocolate club.
A recent post on the Steam subreddit drew renewed attention to the tradition. User u/ichbinhamma shared a photo of a generously filled box of chocolates accompanied by a greeting card from the Steam team.
The photo was reportedly taken last year, and the gift-giving appears to be an annual tradition.
Game marketing consultant Chris Zukowski also examined the “Chocolate Tier” in a blog post from December 2025. He described a smaller box being sent to developers with around $900,000 in gross revenue, while larger gifts reportedly went to those exceeding $1 million. Zukowski explicitly noted that his findings were based on a small sample.
He also said European developers receive chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat, while recipients in North America receive chocolates from Fran’s.
It remains unclear whether Valve actually uses the term “Chocolate Tier” internally, and whether there are fixed revenue thresholds for receiving chocolates. Reddit users have mentioned different figures, with some claiming an entry threshold of “just” $800,000 and others saying developers need $2 million in revenue to qualify for a larger box.
The report concludes that which figures are correct remains uncertain.
