> just gifting a game to the friends would be creepy

lol well this certainly depends on how it's done. Walking up to them in a trench coat and handing them a disc? Probably creepy. But you could also just, like, send them a gift key on Steam...

Unless this person is literally Santa Claus, I suspect a lot of parents might question the motives of a grown man sending gifts to their children without their knowledge.

Just give your kid extra keys to hand to his friends lol, no need to make this complicated.

Just talk to parents. Maybe you will have lan party with them too.

The key is “without their knowledge”. Seems like an easy thing to explain to a parent. Plus it’s reasonable you’d ask the parents so they have a chance to say yes/no to the game.

Having been a victim of grooming, trust me. It's better to talk to the parents than to give a child a gift without the parents' knowledge.

Yes much better. Send an unsolicited game on steam to a minor. Maybe one whose parents have more limits on content than you.

Excellent idea. Two additional reasons: (1) many parents would want veto power on what kids spent their time on and are exposed to, including video games; and (2) you could suggest quietly buying the game through the parents, to avoid complicating the kids' relationship with getting stuff.

Some other, more expensive, activities (e.g., tennis lessons together, when the family of one of the BFFs isn't affluent) are harder for more people to do this, but video games are relatively inexpensive.