Valve has previously said some changes were coming to the Steam gifting feature, and now these changes are here, meaning sending games to another person by email or by the Steam Inventory is no longer an option. Instead, there's now a "direct exchange from gift buyer to gift receiver", as announced in a Steam Community post.
The new system brings a few advantages, including the fact that pre-purchased games can now be given as a gift months in advance and if a gift is declined, either because the receiver has it or doesn't want it, the buyer is directly refunded. Also, this system now works cross-country too, although it won't work if there's a large difference in price between both markets.
Is this the perfect way to send a gift to gaming friends?