[90][91], Valve added Steam Guard functionality to the Steam client in March 2011 to protect against the hijacking of accounts via phishing schemes, one of the largest support issues Valve had at the time. [78], In October 2012, Steam introduced non-gaming applications, which are sold through the service in the same manner as games.

[154], Valve added the ability for developers to sell games under an early access model with a special section of the Steam store, starting in March 2013.

[159], Though Steam provides direct sales data to a game's developer and publisher, it does not provide any public sales data or provide such data to third-party sales groups like NPD Group. Steam is a video game digital distribution service by Valve.It was launched as a standalone software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to include games from third-party publishers. [31] Initially, Valve was required to be the publisher for these games since they had sole access to the Steam's database and engine, but with the introduction of the Steamworks software development kit (SDK) in May 2008, anyone could potentially become a publisher to Steam, outside of Valve's involvement to curate games on the service. [63][64] This caused some of these third-party sites, such as G2A, to be embroiled in this grey market. Before implementing Steam, Valve had problems updating its online games, such as Counter-Strike; providing patches would result in most of the online user base disconnecting for several days. Battle.net competes as a publisher-exclusive platform, while GOG.com's catalog includes many of the same games as Steam but offers them in a DRM-free platform. ", "Valve's new streaming platform, Steam.tv, is officially live now", "Valve updates Artifact FAQ with new launch details", "The Game Awards To Stream Across 40 Global Video Networks", "Steam Lunar New Year sale offers extra discounts for big spenders", "Valve Debuts Steam Music, Announces Big Game Sales", "Steam Music will let you listen to your music library while gaming", "Valve releases a new and very improved chat client for Steam", "Steam's new chat client is out of beta, Valve says more changes are coming", "Valve releases Steam Chat app for iOS and Android", "Steam's redesigned library is out now for everyone", "Valve redesigns Steam game library, adding Steam Event", "Steam's new, handsome 'Library' update is better 16 years late than never", "Steam Points are Valve's new loyalty reward system – here's how they work", "Valve's top tips for launching a game on Steam", "Valve's advice for making your game thrive after launch", "Steamworks Integration Now Available to Unreal Engine 3 Licensees", "Steam teases plan to allow developers to create their own sales", "Steam page now offers paid-Alphas, Introversion says such sales are 'way forward' for indies", "Almost two-fifths of Steam's entire library was released in 2016", "Valve engineer comments on restrictions to high-volume Steam key requests", "Team Fortress 2: the best of the Steam Workshop", "Skyrim Patch v1.4 Coming For All Platforms, PC Mod Tools Not Far Behind", "Free Dungeons of Dredmor DLC adds Steam Workshop support", "Gabe Newell tried gold farming in World of Warcraft to test a theory about games", "Steam Workshop creators can now sell content for non-Valve games", "Steam Workshop now allows modders to sell their work", "Introducing New Ways to Support Workshop Creators", "Valve To Allow Other Developers To Split Profits With User-Generated Content Creators", "A paid Skyrim Steam Workshop mod has already been pulled", "Steam Users See Big Problems With Charging For Mods", "Valve has removed paid mods functionality from Steam Workshop", "Even After The Skyrim Fiasco, Valve Is Still Interested In Paid Mods", "Steam launches official developer-run Item Stores", "Devs open item shops on Steam to sell in-game items for cash", "Steam has added a new 'item store' feature", "Valve Gives Away Portal 2 for Free to Teachers with 'Steam for Schools, "Valve's 'Lab' and desktop theater mode could be the perfect introduction to virtual reality (hands-on)", "Valve Launch SteamVR Beta Ahead of Their Dev Days Event", "Hands-on: Valve/HTC Vive opens up the virtual reality experience", "SteamVR: The room-scale VR world that feels like an 'IMAX in your house, "Steam Controller, SteamVR, Steam Machines: Valve's hardware push in photos", "Valve will no longer support SteamVR on macOS", "Valve won't manually curate Steam because it dominates PC gaming", "Steam Greenlight open for business and accepting submissions", "Steam Greenlight lets users rally behind the games they want to play", "Discoverability on Steam Greenlight? [221] As these experiments mature through end-user testing, they have then been brought into the storefront as direct features. [13][14][8][15] The client and website choked under the strain of thousands of users simultaneously attempting to play the game. Curators can set up descriptors for the type of games they are interested in, preferred languages, and other tags along with social media profiles, while developers can find and reach out to specific curators from this information, and, after review, provide them directly with access to their game. [338][4] Steam's critics often refer to the service as a monopoly, and claim that placing such a percentage of the overall market can be detrimental to the industry as a whole and that sector competition can yield only positive results for the consumer. [350] Prior to Greenlight, Valve saw about five new games published each week. [50], The Steam client includes a digital storefront called the Steam Store through which users can purchase computer games. Steam offers digital rights management (DRM), server hosting, video streaming, and social networking services. [121][122][123], The Steam client, as part of a social network service, allows users to identify friends and join groups using the Steam Community feature. [271] Through SteamPlay, the macOS client allows players who have purchased compatible products in the Windows version to download the Mac versions at no cost, allowing them to continue playing the game on the other platform. [186], Valve's first attempt to streamline game addition to the service was with Steam Greenlight, announced in July 2012 and released the following month. [93] Steam Guard also offers two-factor, risk-based authentication that uses a one-time verification code sent to a verified email address associated with the Steam account; this was later expanded to include two-factor authentication through the Steam mobile application, known as Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator. Each SeaI/O model is designed for maximum flexibility and easy field wiring. [174] In November 2015, the Steam client was updated with the ability for game developers to offer in-game items for direct sale via the store interface, with Rust being the first game to use the feature.

[352] As these processes allow developers to publish games on Steam with minimal oversight from Valve, journalists have criticized Valve for lacking curation policies that make it difficult to find quality games among poorly produced games, aka "shovelware".

[254], In June 2018, Valve clarified its policy on content, taking a more hands-off approach rather than deem what content is inappropriate, outside of illegal material. Developers and publishers with existing games on Steam have been strongly encouraged to complete these forms for these games, while Valve will use moderators to make sure new games are appropriately marked. [307] In September 2013, Valve unveiled SteamOS, a custom Linux-based operating system they had developed specifically aimed for running Steam and games, and the final concept of the Steam Machine hardware. Some have asserted that Valve used the GDPR change as a means to block methods of estimating sales data,[335] though Valve has since promised to provide tools to developers to help gain such insights that they say will be more accurate than Steam Spy was. [301], On May 14, 2018, a "Steam Link" app with remote play features was released in beta to allow users to stream games to Android phones. [16] At the time, Steam's primary function was streamlining the patch process common in online computer games, and was an optional component for all other games. The Steam platform is the largest digital distribution platform for PC gaming, holding around 75% of the market space in 2013. While these changes brought Steam's privacy settings inline with approaches used by game console services, it also impacted third-party services such as Steam Spy, which relied on the public data to estimate Steam sales count. Users can block games that are marked with this type of content from appearing in the store, and if they have not blocked it, they are presented with the description given by the developer or publisher before they can continue to the store page. [111] [193], The initial process offered by Greenlight was panned because while developers favored the concept, the rate of games that were eventually approved were small.

[230] Around the launch of Electronic Arts' (EA) own digital storefront Origin during the same year, Valve removed Crysis 2, Dragon Age II, and Alice: Madness Returns from Steam because the terms of service prevented games from having their own in-game storefront for downloadable content. [313], China has strict regulations on video games and Internet use, however, access to Steam is allowed through China's governmental firewalls. Game licenses can be given to other accounts under certain conditions. Perfect World has worked with Valve before to help bring Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to the country through approved government processes. [276] Internal beta testing of the Linux client started in October 2012; external beta testing occurred in early November the same year. These points do not expire as they had in the prior sales, and can be redeemed in the separate storefront for cosmetics that apply to the user's profile and chat interface. [127] Steam Trading Cards, a system where players earn virtual trading cards based on games they own, were introduced in May 2013. [382], In August 2016, BT Group filed a lawsuit against Valve stating that Steam's client infringes on four of their patents, which they state are used within the Steam Library, Chat, Messaging, and Broadcasting. It also provides the user with installation and automatic updating of games, and community features such as friends lists and groups, cloud storage, and in-game voice and chat functionality.

Starting in June 2018, Valve has taken actions against games and developers that are "trolling" the system; in September 2018, Valve explicitly defined that trollers on Steam "aren't actually interested in good faith efforts to make and sell games to you or anyone" and instead use "game shaped object" that could be considered a video game but would not be considered "good" by a near-unanimity of users. Valve sponsors and distributes some modifications free of charge;[112] and modifications that use Steamworks can also use VAC, Friends, the server browser, and any Steam features supported by their parent game.


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