Earlier today, Steam broke: as first noted on Reddit, when users tried to purchase something through the storefront, they were faced with an error message saying they could not complete the transaction.

Valve admitted on Twitter that something had gone wrong:

When I first tested this issue myself, I ran into the exact same problem: after selecting a game, choosing a payment method, and entering billing information, the transaction failed. After selecting a game, choosing a payment method, and entering billing information, the transaction failed. There seems to have been an error initializing or updating the transaction. Please wait a moment and try again or contact support.

As of now, purchasing seems to be working again, and while there is still no official confirmation from Valve, I, like several of my fellow PC gamers, have been able to purchase some games. It's not an official all-clear, but it seems to be getting there.

The Steam store can occasionally struggle to load (especially at the start of a sale), but it's fairly rare for purchases to stop working entirely; Valve often says nothing about glitches; the Steam support Twitter account has been dormant since 2017 and and the main Steam account mainly posts deals. It's really quite novel.

I have asked Valve for more information on this issue. In the meantime, we will keep an eye on this issue and let you know if anything else changes.