Steam


The 2016 Steam Logo
"Oh, yeah, I love Steam! I just hate the pipes..."
—Francis, Left 4 Dead

Steam is the most popular Digital Distribution platform for PC games. Created by Valve Corporation in 2004 to distribute and integrate their own games cheaply, it has grown from its shaky and buggy beginnings into the service that PC gamers can use for their online middleware needs. (Provided you have a decently fast internet connection and a way of buying online.) It also features a messaging system, an online multiplayer platform, Achievements, and an in-game Web browser, making it something like the PC equivalent of Xbox Live, except free, and marketed at an older demographic. And like Live, it has since gone cross-platform, supporting Mac OS and Linux in addition to Windows.

All of Valve's PC games since Half-Life 2 have required Steam and the retail versions come with it. The service is free to download as well, and allows gamers to integrate their games into the service, as well as download games that support the service natively.

Having the full support of pretty much every major publisher that makes PC titles except for some for the withholding of select titles by Epic Games, and to a lesser extent Blizzard Entertainment the service makes it easier to just download and play PC games, due to having over one thousand titles available for download, many of which are classic games in their own right-and now it boasts more than 30 million unique users. Not bad for a company that made its first game 12 years ago.

The program has its own Hatedom, partly thanks to the service's self-imposed DRM, but also due to surprisingly high prices, which Steam circumvents by offering weekly discounts on specific products. Further, as Digital Distribution has become more popular, some of the ways Steam does things have proven unfriendly to competition. Ironically, the reaction to Electronic Arts' digital service Origin was highly negative, with a ton of people wishing they just stuck to Steam, though this is largely in part due to majority opinion that Origin is not only a vastly inferior service for a variety of reasons (it can be argued that Steam's success is because it provides a variety of useful services nobody else provides), but also due to Orgin's highly controversial terms of service.

In 2010, the interface underwent a major overhaul, designed to coincide with the release of Steam for the Mac OS. Opinions are mixed.

Not related to water vapor, or that Peter Gabriel song, or steampunk.

Tropes Pertaining to Steam Include
  • Allegedly Free Game: Some of the free games in the Steam store are this.
  • Art Evolution: The Steam client has become more refined in its art style over time, though some find charm in the simplicity of the older clients.
  • Digital Distribution
  • Follow the Leader: Not the first service of its kind. Many features in Steam were found in Blizzard Battle.Net, which predates it.
  • Game Mod: Hosts a number of these. Infamously attempted to promote paid mods back around 2015.
  • Going Mobile: Steam has an official mobile app on iPhones, Android devices, and even Windows Phones at one point.
    • The mobile version is ultimately downplayed, it exists primarily so that gamers can have an extra layer of security, catch the latest news/see what new games arrived, etc, rather than actually playing by games on mobile devices.
  • Loot Boxes: Loot crates or boxes viewable in Steam can be acquired by playing certain games.
  • Long Runners: One of the longest operating services of its kind, having started in 2003.
  • No Export for You: Some of Valve's games, like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Team Fortress 2, can only be bought and/or downloaded in Steam.
  • Online Alias: Users are able to use one in the Steam community.
  • Retro Gaming: In the vast library of Steam, there are a lot of retro games. Some publishers attempt to port much of their back catalogue to Steam to satisfy this market. The platform is a relative Long Runner, so depending on one’s definition of retro, some retro games on Steam were simply published there in the first place. Like with GOG's case, some of the games only have this art style, but are more recent releases.
  • We Sell Everything: If it's related to gaming, Steam probably sells it or something comparable. They sell gaming hardware, soundtracks, digital artbooks, and other content alongside games, among other things.
Games and series for download from Steam include:
  1. ↑ Except Battlefield 3 (which EA has made exclusive to their competing Origin service) and a few gimmick titles.
  2. ↑ as part of the Classics bundle only
  3. ↑ as part of the Classics bundle only
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