Steam (service) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Steam

The Steam client as of June 2023, showing the store
Developer(s)	Valve Corporation
Initial release	September 12, 2003; 21 years ago (2003-09-12)
Stable release	SteamClient021, Package: 1709846872  (March 7, 2024; 15 months ago (2024-03-07))
Preview release	API v020, Package: 1682723851  (April 29, 2023; 2 years ago (2023-04-29))
Platform	Windows macOS Linux iOS Android
Available in	29 languages
List of languages English, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Greek, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (European and Brazilian), Russian, Romanian, Spanish (European and Latin American), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Type	Content delivery Digital rights management Social network service Video streaming service
License	Proprietary software

Steam is a super popular online store and service for video games, created by a company called Valve Corporation. It first launched in September 2003. Back then, it mainly helped Valve's own games get updates automatically. But by late 2005, it started selling games from other companies too!

Steam offers lots of cool features for gamers. It helps you find other players for online games and has special tools to stop cheating. It also works like a social network where you can chat with friends. You can even stream your game live for others to watch. The Steam program on your computer also updates your games automatically. It saves your game progress online, so you can play from any computer. Plus, it has a marketplace where you can trade virtual items.

In 2008, Valve released something called Steamworks. This is a free tool that helps game makers add Steam's features to their games. Many game publishers started selling their games on Steam that same year. Steam was first made for Microsoft Windows computers. Later, it became available for macOS in 2010 and Linux in 2012. You can also use Steam on your phone with apps for iOS and Android devices, which came out in 2012.

Steam is the biggest online store for PC games. In 2013, it had about 75% of the market! By 2017, people had spent around $4.3 billion buying games on Steam. In 2021, Steam had over 34,000 games and more than 132 million people using it every month. Because Steam was so successful, Valve also created special gaming computers called Steam Machines in 2015. They also made the Steam Controller and the Steam Deck, a handheld device for playing Steam games, released in 2022.

Steam's Journey: A Look Back

In the early 2000s, Valve wanted a better way to update their games. Back then, players had to download big updates, which often disconnected them from online games for days. Valve decided to create a platform that would update games automatically. They also wanted to add stronger ways to prevent cheating and piracy.

Valve started developing its own platform in 2002. They called it "Grid" and "Gazelle" at first. Steam was officially announced and started beta testing on March 22, 2002. In November 2004, Half-Life 2 was the first game to be sold digitally on Steam. You also needed the Steam program to play retail copies of the game.

In 2005, other game developers started releasing their games on Steam. These included games like Rag Doll Kung Fu and Darwinia. Over the years, more and more companies joined Steam. Some companies, like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft, tried to sell their games on their own platforms. But eventually, many of them returned to Steam. By 2018, Steam had over 90 million people using it every month!

How Steam Works: Features and Fun

Getting and Keeping Your Games

Steam's main job is to let you buy games and other software. Once you buy them, they go into your online library. You can download and install them as many times as you want. At first, only Valve could publish games on Steam. But in 2008, they released Steamworks. This tool lets any game developer add their games to Steam easily.

Steam helps protect games from being copied illegally. When you download a game, Steam creates a special, encrypted copy just for you. This lets you install it on many devices and make backup copies. To play the game, you just need to log into Steam. You can even play most games offline after logging in once.

Steam also has cool features like achievements, similar to Xbox 360. In 2008, they added Steam Cloud. This service automatically saves your game progress and custom files online. You can access your saves from any computer with Steam. In 2012, you could even manage your game library from your phone or another computer.

You can also use special codes, called product keys, to add games to your Steam library. These keys are often sold by other stores or given out in promotions. Steam also lets you buy downloadable content (DLC) for your games.

Sharing Games with Family

In 2013, Steam added a feature to share most games with family and close friends. You can let others play games from your library on their own computers. They can even use their own saved games and achievements. But if the main owner starts playing a game, the person sharing it gets a few minutes to save and quit.

In 2014, "Family View" was added. This lets parents control what their children can do on Steam. A new and improved "Steam Families" feature was launched in 2024. It lets up to five family members share games from one account. They can even play different games at the same time with their own saves!

Keeping Things Fair

Valve can stop people from accessing their games if they cheat in online games. They also take action if someone tries to sell their account or exploit price differences. If you don't agree to Steam's rules, you might lose access to your games too. But usually, blocked users can still play their games offline.

The Steam Store: Finding New Adventures

The Steam program has a digital store called the Steam Store. Here, you can buy games and other software. Once you buy a game, it's linked to your Steam account forever. You can download it on any compatible device. Steam sells games in many different currencies around the world.

Steam often has big sales on games, sometimes daily or weekly. They also have huge sales during summer and holidays. These sales are a great way to get games at a lower price!

You can also buy games as gifts for your friends on Steam. In the past, people could buy gifts and hold onto them. But now, most gifts need to be sent right away. This helps prevent people from buying games cheaply in one country and selling them for more in another.

Steam also lets you use product keys from other places to add games to your library. Sometimes, people try to resell these keys at unfair prices. Valve tries to stop this by tracking where keys are used. They can even remove games from libraries if keys were obtained unfairly.

Player Reviews and Feedback

Since 2013, players can write reviews for games on Steam. Other users can rate these reviews as helpful or funny. This helps highlight the most useful reviews on a game's store page. Steam also uses these reviews to show how popular games are. In 2016, they started showing reviews from all time and from the last 30 days. This helps show if a game has changed a lot since it first came out.

Valve also tries to stop "review bombs." These happen when many users leave negative reviews for reasons not related to the game itself. Steam now marks these reviews as "off-topic" and they don't count towards the game's overall score.

Free Games and Virtual Items

In 2011, Steam started offering free-to-play games. These games are free to download and play. Many of them, like Team Fortress 2, let you buy special in-game items. Steam also lets you trade in-game items and game gifts with other users.

The Steam Market, launched in 2012, lets users sell virtual items to each other using Steam Wallet funds. Valve takes a small fee from these sales. This feature expanded to many other games.

In 2012, Steam also started selling non-gaming software, like creative tools. You can also buy game soundtracks to listen to through Steam Music.

Your Steam Profile: User Interface and Fun Tools

Steam lets you organize your games into categories and favorite lists. You can also add games not bought on Steam to your library. This makes it easy to launch them and use some Steam features. While playing a game, you can open the Steam overlay. This lets you chat with friends, browse the web, or take screenshots without leaving the game.

Steam's "Big Picture" mode is more optimized for a larger screen with a larger, simpler interface that mimics the Steam Deck interface and is easily navigable with either a controller or mouse.

Steam has a "Big Picture" mode, which came out in 2012. This mode makes Steam look good on big TVs. You can control it easily with a game controller. This was a step towards Valve making its own gaming hardware. In 2023, Big Picture mode got a big update to look more like the Steam Deck's interface.

In 2014, "In-Home Streaming" was added. This let you play games from one computer on another in your home. Later, it was renamed "Remote Play." Now, you can stream games to devices even outside your home network. "Remote Play Together" lets you play local multiplayer games with friends who are far away.

Connecting with Friends

Steam is also a social network service. You can add friends and join groups using the Steam Community. The Steam Chat lets you text or talk with friends. You can see what games your friends are playing and invite them to play together. There are also forums where you can discuss games. Each user has a unique profile page showing their friends, games, and achievements. You can choose to keep this information private.

In 2013, Steam Trading Cards were introduced. You earn these virtual cards by playing games. You can trade them with other users or use them to create "Badges." These badges give you rewards like discount coupons and ways to customize your profile.

Since 2015, you can also livestream your gameplay to your Steam friends or the public. Steam.tv was launched in 2018 for big events like Dota 2 tournaments.

In 2018, the friends and chat system got a big update. It added voice chat and other features, similar to Discord. A separate mobile app for Steam Chat was released in 2019. In 2019, the Steam Library and game pages got a new look. This helps you organize your games and see what your friends are playing.

Steamworks: Tools for Game Creators

Valve offers Steamworks, a free set of tools for game developers. Steamworks helps developers add features like online multiplayer, matchmaking, and achievements to their games. It also helps with voice chat and saving games to the Steam Cloud. Steamworks includes tools to prevent cheating and manage digital copies of games.

Steam also lets developers sell their games under an early access model. This means developers can release unfinished games for users to buy. Players can then test the game and give feedback. This also helps developers get money to finish their games.

Steam Workshop: Player-Made Content

The Steam Workshop is a service where users can share content they've created for games. This can include new levels, art, or gameplay changes. The Workshop started with Team Fortress 2 items. Later, it expanded to support many other games, like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Sometimes, content from the Workshop can even be sold. Valve has paid millions of dollars to creators who made popular items for games like Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2.

SteamVR: Virtual Reality Fun

SteamVR is a special platform for virtual reality (VR) games. It focuses on letting you move around in a room while playing. SteamVR first worked with the Oculus Rift headset in 2014. Now, it supports many other VR headsets. SteamVR 2.0 was released in 2023, adding new features similar to the main Steam app.

Finding Games: How Steam Helps You Discover New Titles

For a long time, Valve chose which games could be on Steam. But they wanted to make it easier for more games to be available. They also didn't want to be the only ones deciding what gets sold. So, they looked for ways to let more games onto the platform, while still making sure players could find good ones.

Steam Greenlight: Community Choices

In 2012, Valve launched Steam Greenlight. This let Steam users vote on which games they wanted to see on the service. Developers would submit their game ideas, and users would vote for them. The games with the most votes would then be released on Steam. This helped many smaller games get noticed.

Steam Direct: A Simpler Path

Steam Greenlight was replaced by Steam Direct in 2017. Now, developers just need to fill out some forms and pay a fee for each game they want to publish. After that, they wait 30 days for Valve to check the game. This makes sure the game works correctly and doesn't have bad content. The fee is meant to encourage serious game submissions. If a game sells well, the fee is returned to the developer.

Better Ways to Find Games

Valve doesn't use paid ads on the store. Instead, they use smart computer programs to suggest games you might like. These programs look at what games you've played before.

In 2014, the "Discovery Update" added tools to help users find games. It let existing Steam users become "curators" and recommend games. It also showed more popular games and personalized recommendations. This update was very successful, leading to more sales.

Steam also has "Curator Connect." This lets game developers easily send their games to curators for review. This helps get the word out about new games.

In 2019, Steam Labs was introduced. This is a place where Valve tests new ways to help users discover games. For example, they tested an "Interactive Recommender" that uses artificial intelligence to suggest games based on your past play history.

In 2022, Steam Charts were added. These publicly show the best-selling and most-played games on Steam. You can see historical data by week and month.

Rules for Games and Accounts

In 2015, Valve started a formal refund process. You can get a refund for a game within two weeks of buying it, as long as you haven't played it for more than two hours. Before this, refunds were only given in special cases.

Valve can remove games from Steam for various reasons. However, if you've already bought a game that gets removed, you can usually still download and play it. Games might be removed for copyright issues or if they violate Steam's rules. For example, some games were removed because they had their own in-game stores for DLC, which was against Steam's terms at the time.

Keeping Games Fair and Safe

With Steam Direct, more games are published on Steam. But sometimes, games try to trick users. Valve has taken action against "trolling" games that aren't real games or try to exploit the system. They also try to stop "fake games" that use reused art and offer little gameplay. These games sometimes try to manipulate the trading card market or offer too many easy achievements.

Valve has removed games from the store for other reasons too. For example, if a developer is hostile to customers or if games are found to be using stolen content. In 2021, Valve started warning developers about games that use cryptocurrency or non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This is because these items can have real-world value outside of Steam, which goes against Valve's rules.

Where You Can Use Steam

Windows Computers

Steam first came out only for Microsoft Windows computers in 2003. Newer versions of Steam use modern web technologies. This means they don't work on very old Windows systems like Windows XP or Vista anymore.

Mac Computers

Valve announced a Steam program for Mac OS X in 2010. If you bought a game on Windows that also works on Mac, you can download the Mac version for free. Many multiplayer games also let Mac and Windows players play together.

Linux Computers

In 2012, Valve announced they were making a Steam client for Linux computers. This was a big step for Valve to support open platforms. The Linux client was officially released in February 2013. By 2019, there were thousands of games available for Linux on Steam.

In 2018, Valve released a special tool called Proton. This lets Linux users play many Windows-only games directly through Steam for Linux. The Steam Deck, Valve's handheld gaming computer, runs on a Linux-based system and uses Proton to play Windows games.

Steam on Consoles

In 2010, Valve announced that Steamworks would come to the PlayStation 3 with Portal 2. This allowed features like cross-platform play (playing with people on different systems) and saving games to Steam Cloud.

Mobile Apps

Valve released an official Steam app for iOS and Android phones in 2012. This app lets you log in, browse the store, manage your games, and chat with friends. It also has a special security system called Steam Guard to protect your account.

In 2018, a "Steam Link" app was released. This lets you stream games from your PC to your Android or iOS phone.

Steam-Branded Devices

Valve has also created its own gaming hardware. In 2013, they announced SteamOS, a special Linux-based operating system for games. They also revealed the Steam Machines, which were customizable gaming computers. However, Steam Machines were later removed from the store due to low sales.

In 2015, Valve released the Steam Link (a device for streaming games to your TV) and the Steam Controller. The Steam Link device was discontinued in 2018. Now, "Steam Link" refers to the mobile app that lets you stream games to your phone.

Steam Deck

Valve released the Steam Deck in 2022. This is a handheld gaming computer that runs an updated version of SteamOS. It's designed to play Steam games on the go. You can also connect it to a dock to play on a bigger screen. Valve also created a "Steam Deck Validated" program to show how well games work on the Steam Deck.

Steam Cloud Play: Games in the Cloud

In 2020, Valve added beta support for Steam Cloud Play. This lets developers allow users to play games from their library using a cloud gaming service. This means the game runs on powerful computers in the cloud, and you stream the video to your device.

Steam China: A Special Version

China has strict rules about video games and the internet. Many Steam users are from China. In 2017, Valve and a Chinese company called Perfect World announced a special version of Steam for China. This version, called "Steam Platform," follows China's internet rules. All games on Steam China need government approval. Valve still tries to let Chinese users access the global Steam platform too.

See also

In Spanish: Steam para niños

• List of video game digital distribution systems