What started as a fun holiday event quickly devolved into a desperate cash-grab when Steam gamers discovered an exploit that allowed them to cheat the system.

The intent behind the Steam Holiday Auction was to allow Steam users to trade virtual items like Steam trading cards or in-game items like Team Fortress 2 hats and weapons for “Steam Gems.”

These gems could then be used to craft more items, or they could be used to bid on actual video games through the auction. Steam already allows users to sell their virtual items to other users in return for Steam credit, so this feature would essentially cut out the middle man.

Even the gems themselves could be sold for Steam credit, so gamers who did not want to bother with the auction or did not care about new items could get something out of it.

The event seemed like a win-win for Steam users, but the auction lasted for only a few hours before Steam’s owner, Valve Corporation, quickly shut the event down.

The reason? A few enterprising Steam users discovered an exploit that allowed them to duplicate billions of Steam Gems, completely destabilizing the Steam Community Marketplace in less than five hours.

Oops

The market for the Gems rapidly crashed due to the enormous illicit supply that suddenly became available, devaluing the items to pennies for batches of 1000 gems.

Damage control

After Valve put an immediate stop to the Steam Holiday Auction, they began removing Steam Gems from users’ inventories. Reddit user lupay said: “I just recently had about 15,000 gems removed from my inventory, but no action against the cards and such I bought with them.”

Other Reddit users said that they had also lost their Steam Gems, but some reported that they were later returned.

Valve made it very clear on the Steam Holiday Auction page they could remove gems or items obtained from the event if they felt it was necessary.

The FAQ reads: “If the Holiday Auction is disrupted for any reason, Valve may, in its sole discretion, reverse invalid transactions or provide an alternative for game auctions and/or other Steam Gem transactions.”

The event page promises that Valve is working on resolving the issues, and the event will return “soon.”