See how Steam became the digital gaming leader

If you are part of the public of Gamers whose main platform is the computer, you have certainly heard about the Steam and its promotions. Even those who play on other consoles have heard of it, one of the main platforms for selling digital games in history. Not by chance, for more than 20 years Steam dominates the market.

Much more than just a place to buy your favorite games, the site is a true phenomenon that expands into many areas. Not only does it allow users to purchase or download their favorite games, it's also a community, with forums specific to each title on the platform! So let's hop on board the time machine and see how Steam came about, its main projects and also who were the creators?

The minds behind Steam

It is impossible to talk about this platform without mentioning the two names that created it: Mike Harrington e Gabe Newell, two important figures in the video game industry who, in addition to bringing great games to market, also changed how gamers shop and play.

Both were coworkers at the Microsoft and, according to rumors, they left the company in 1996 because they wanted to work with electronic games, something that the company Bill Gates, at the time, was not interested – they arrived in this market only in 2001, with the launch of Xbox original. So they formed the valve corporation, where they could have more creative freedom and also put their big ideas into practice.

Although it seems risky - leaving work in one of the largest corporations in the world to start the business from scratch -, the danger was worth it and it didn't take long for the company created by the duo to become one of the largest in the market.

The Valve Corporation

Two years after the company was founded in 1996, the first title created by the duo still took a while to be released, as the level of perfectionism they wanted to find took time. Then, in 1998, Half-Life came to computers, considered until today one of the best computer games in history.

There was no shortage of praise for the company's first game, considered by many to be revolutionary for the time, as it combined fluid and immersive gameplay with an interesting story, in which we follow the story of Gordon Freeman, a scientist from Black Mesa who needs to survive after research on interdimensional portals goes wrong.

In addition to these two factors, the advanced graphics also managed to create a unique experience for players, generating a great impact on the market at first, where first-person shooters were popularized and also established the Valve as one of the industry's leading developers. To this day, many companies try to replicate the formula for this uniquely successful combination.

However, these points were not the only positive aspects of the launch of Half-Life, since, with the title, the Valve also provided a powerful tool for players to create their own mods and experiment with their creativity at that time. engine, which gave rise to other fantastic names in the industry. Team Fortress, Day of Defeat, The Ship e Garry's Mod were some of the successful games derived from the first onslaught of Gabe Newell e Mike Harrington in the market, however, none had the same impact as Counter-Strike.

Counter-Strike and the launch of Steam

It is impossible to talk about the history of Steam without mentioning the game that was probably the main reason for the platform to be created: Counter-Strike, which came about as a mod from Half-Life bred by Vietnamese but naturalized Canadian, minh le.

Years before creating one of the biggest fevers at the turn of the millennium, the young man had already gained a lot of experience creating modifications of two other popular games on the market: Quake. Its changes were always based on war operations carried out by marines, where the player belonged to the North American army and, in addition to the improved gameplay, it also added new weapons, which were never present in the original version.

When Quake 2 was released, minh le was not afraid and also acquired the development tools to keep creating mods for the new version of his favorite game and then came what became known as action quake 2. This creation on his part already made him look very similar to the Counter-Strike that we would get to know later and it was also so successful that the developer of the title itself implemented it in a package of mods officials.

After all that success creating your own version of your favorite games, minh le, now in partnership with Jess Cliffe, drew the attention of Valve, who hired the duo and acquired the rights to Counter-Strike. The game was sold as if it were a new title and pleased the public, as soon the company's name became even better known when it came to online games. This reputation was already being created since the presence of Team Fortress. the games of Valve simply dominated the internet cafes in the world in the 2000s, encouraging many young people. Here the story of Steam takes its first timid step.

The Rise of Steam

A Valve became known as one of the best companies in the online business as it offered great gaming experiences. The number of players increased every day and, therefore, problems were more easily identified, such as the fact that they did not have some kind of security against players who used programs to circumvent the rules and cheat during matches, which began to irritate the players. players. It is quite common for games to have updates that seek to modify data. The problem is that, during these updates, most users were unable to play. This happened for several days in a row, which took away the fun and immersion of the game.

A Valve it didn't take long to realize the need to create a way to release all updates faster, while the player could play. Thus, on March 22, 2002, while the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2002, the Valve announced the Steam, which had the help of 75.000 beta testers to verify that the system would work perfectly. It was something unheard of, even more so because internet connections were low at that time. The idea, which was not yet the same as what we have today, seemed to please some and generate alliances.

Valve, its alliances and third parties 

The big companies at the time did not support the valve corporation, it is true, but the Steam got the support of AT&T, Acer e GameSpy Industries. This was a huge opportunity to develop new features.  

To have the 1.6 update from Counter-Strike, now, it was necessary to install and have the accounts linked in the Steam. This did not discourage the players, on the contrary, the animation caused the servers to crash from so many downloads.

Besides all that, we had the Counter Strike: Source, in 2004, which was the first game to use the new one engine. This remaster of CS 1.6 did not pump up as much as its predecessor, but it exposed to all the power of reach of the library of the Steam, which led other companies to contact the Valvewanting to have their own software e games sold by the platform.

Day of Defeat, Ragdoll Kung Fu e darwinia are names known by those who know the history of Steam. the nostalgic Day of Defeat made history by being the first game to be released entirely through the platform's download system, in 2003. The last two were among the first third-party titles released, which showed the interest of Valve in selling products from other companies, in 2005.

In addition to the store, a social network

It is not surprising that a network with so many participants soon thought of a tool that could help with communication between them. The importance of communication and united players kicked off the first tests of the Steam Community.

That was a masterstroke from Valve, since, for the first time, players didn't need to resort to other platforms to chat and find friends with common interests. With the personal library visible, anyone could know what the other liked. A Steam Community brought greater interactivity between different peoples, shortened the distance between people and facilitated cultural exchange.

Then came the Steamworks, which made it possible for developers to work on their own projects and share mods of your favorite games, and the Steam Cloud, which stored you know of games and other data in the cloud.

Finally, we also had the Steam Greenlight, a system where platform players could vote for the most interesting projects from independent developers to be added to the platform. This system helped some classics to reach the public's attention and become real successes, some examples being the Stardew Valley, Undertale e Papers, Please!

That is, despite this project bringing some complaints due to the quality of the games that were presented and approved, without it, we would also not know many others that today are part of our list of favorites.

The Steam we know

Currently, the platform Steam It has approximately 95 million users worldwide and is a hit with gamers. For anyone who has bought a computer and is stepping into the world of PC gaming, Steam is indicated.

This year had a record peak of online users on the platform, with a total of 33 million, numbers that are surpassed every year by the site, with an increasingly active and constantly expanding community. During these numbers that were marked on the site, the TOP 3 of games at the moment were formed by the games Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2 e goose goose duck.

In addition, the platform is also known for having a strong presence in the competitive digital gaming scene, with its MOBA, at each international championship, offering an even greater prize for competitors and bringing the community together in breathtaking matches.

Steam Machine, Steam VR, Steam Deck

From the history so far, we know that Valve does not like to stand still. Between mistakes and successes, we will now talk about three notorious creations of the company. It was always seeking to innovate that the Valve bet on Steam Machine, which was the idea of ​​creating a device that used the Big Picture, made in 2012, as a better option for viewing platform such as a TV. 

The idea was to be compatible with a desktop console, but as a kind of hardware own to run the system Steam. This would pave the way for players to access all of the platform's titles off-PC. A good idea, don't you think? However, she was not convinced. Because it is outsourced, developed by companies such as Alienware, maingera e Zotac NEN, the price of Steam Machines they were high, ranging from US$450 to US$5, depending on each model, that is, the idea reached only a tiny niche.

In 2014, the desire for the new motivated once again the valve corporation, which launched the platform for distributing digital content and digital games with Virtual Reality: Steam VR. Ever heard of the popular Oculus, HTC Vive and even from PlayStation VR? All this popularity reflects the idea of Valve to put a space in Steam for developers interested in virtual reality, making it easier for users to access content on the hardware that the player chooses.

if you think the Valve stopped, missed. In 2022, the latest novelty was released. Let's talk now about the electronic game console and tablet hybrid developed by Valve. That's right, the Steam deck. Although many players believe that the Valve has a pretty bad list when it comes to hardware, Deck was well received by the public. The portable video game was seen as “liberating” for many players, thanks to the fact that it allowed the installation of the with whatever you want on the operating system based on Linux of the device. The novelty was also awarded for best hardware of 2022 in Golden Joystick Awards. 

Relevance in the market today

A Steam it's still the biggest digital games store on PC. However, over the years, despite being increasingly popular among players, the Steam hasn't remained the only popular gaming platform in the digital PC market, and a few competitors have emerged, the fiercest battle being against EPIC Games Store. 

Both companies seek to capture the largest possible share of the PC gaming market, which generates intense competition and has brought significant changes to the sector.

According to data released by the Mobile Marketing Trends, in 2022, the Steam it's still the leading PC game distribution platform, with an estimated revenue of $3,1 billion in the first half of the year alone. However, the EPIC Games Store has quickly gained space, with revenues of US$ 820 million, but the data refer to the entire year.

One of the main strategies adopted by the EPIC Games Store to attract players has been to offer games for free in limited periods. The company has already distributed titles such as “Grand Theft Auto V","Control"and "Among Us” for free, which attracts many players to the platform. In addition, the store invests in exclusives, closing deals with developers to launch games only on its platform, as happened with “Metro Exodus"and "Borderlands 3".

A Steam, in turn, has maintained its leadership position through its extensive library of games and resources such as Steam Workshop, which allows gamers to create and share content for their favorite games. In addition, the platform offers community tools, such as discussion forums and player groups, which has helped to retain its users.

There are also other stores in the digital games market, however, none of them manages to have as big a slice as the two already mentioned here. We can cite as an outstanding example the GOG, from the developer CD Projekt RED, responsible for The Witcher e Cyberpunk. The store focuses on offering vintage and classic games, as well as remastered versions of popular titles, with an emphasis on DRM-free and games without any type of protection against illegal copying.

Furthermore, the store Uplay, from the developer Ubisoft, has also gained ground in the PC digital games market, with a library of popular games such as “Assassin's Creed"and "Father Cry". 

And with that, our story of the day comes to an end about one of the pioneering stores in the digital games market and that, despite being one of the first to be launched, remains the most popular to this day. However, for you, dear reader, what is the game that accompanied you the longest in Steam? Tell us in the comments!

LEARN MORE

Counter-Strike 2 is announced, check out the news!

SOURCES: EuroGamer, Steam e PC Gamer

Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim (23 / 03 / 23)