If you’re into gaming, you know Steam. If you’re new to gaming, well, you need to know Steam.
Today will dive into one of the world’s most dominant gaming platforms and explore everything you need to know.
About Steam
Valve Corporation introduced the world to Steam in the Fall of 2003. The early 2000s were a time of handheld gaming evolution. Handheld and cloud gaming had been around for some time, but higher speed networks were beginning to infiltrate society giving way to cloud and handheld gaming evolutions.
In other words, Steam was right on time.
The gaming culture understood that the tech industry was exploding as internet connectivity improved by leaps and bounds. Therefore, their gaming expectations rose significantly.
One of Steam’s most notable missions was providing automatic game updates. Remember, prior to this, when you bought a game, you couldn’t easily update it. This helped not only gamers and their experiences, but developers looking to improve their games post-launch.
Steam provides a vast, unrivaled library of games. These games are developed by numerous companies and independent developers. This results in a wide range of game title types. You’ll find everything from indie games to big AAA releases and even adult games.
In fact, Steam has served as a crucial platform for independent game developers who’d otherwise have few options to sell and promote their games.
Users can purchase, download, and stream games.
Steam also has its own handheld streaming device called Steam Deck.
Steam has a couple of interfaces, one is for your desktop computer, the other is for your TV. The TV picture mode competes with rivals such as Sony Playstation and Xbox which allow gamers to navigate innately on their TV.
Steam has significantly influenced the PC gaming market, from how games are distributed and sold to how communities form around them.
Consoles vs. PCs
If you’ve been in gaming for more than a couple of weeks, you’ve probably come across the great gaming debate: PCs vs. Consoles.
Consoles such as Xbox and Playstation are the way most people think gaming goes down. And they are right. These consoles are incredibly impactful in gaming. We’ve all seen the Black Friday Best Buy footage of people scoring Playstations. We’ve all heard about the console shortage of 2021.
But PCs are considered the best way to play games because PCs can be built to handle heavier graphics loads.
People who are super serious about playing Call of Duty probably play it on their PC to experience the full effects and so they can be better than their competition.
Steam is the gateway into PC gaming. Steam games are all PC capable.
We should note, Apple’s new M3 MacBook Pro laptops are being pitched as a rival to PC gaming. We’ll see.
Steam Community
In gaming, networking is a big deal. Multiplayer games are all the rage because the gaming community loves interactivity.
Steam has a community hub where players can interact, share content, and receive news updates about their favorite games. And much like any social media, gamers can friend other gamers and chat.
Steam and PC Gaming
One of Steam’s biggest impacts has been on PC gaming. From how games are distributed to how they are sold to the communities that form around them, Steam’s influence over PC gaming is unrivaled.
PC gaming is a massive industry and some of that is due to Steam’s marketshare and innovations. Steam has provided the PC gaming world with endless game options.
Conclusion
Steam continues to evolve, focusing on enhancing user experiences and integrating new technologies. Steam seeks to maintain its position as the leader in digital gaming distribution. The history of Steam conveys a story of broader trends in internet connectivity, movement towards handhelds, and the need for more robust technology to support heavy visual graphics experiences.