Steam, Valve's digital distribution platform, marks its 20th anniversary, and there's plenty to celebrate.
While Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are the champions of console gaming, for PC gamers, Valve, with its digital games distribution platform, Steam, has become the undisputed leader.
Lead by the lovingly nicknamed Lord Gaben, Valve has become one of the largest private video game companies in the world with no signs of slowing down.
For its 20th birthday celebration, Valve is offering up to a 90 percent discount on most of its games, which includes a rare price cut on Half-Life: Alyx, one of the company's most recent outings. More importantly, the celebratory sale page takes users on a trip down memory lane, showing highlights from the platform's two-decade history and allowing them to purchase the "Top Games" from specific milestone years. For instance, the original Portal game can be bought for a mere $0.99.
Nostalgia is a tricky thing. While the celebration touches on some of the highs of Steam's journey, it doesn't take a deep dive into the initial challenges the platform faced. In 2003, digital distribution was a mere novel concept. At the time, a lot of gamers still preferred purchasing the physical copies of games from stores. The atmosphere changed when Valve launched Half-Life 2, requiring players to use Steam and an internet connection even for its single-player mode. It was a move that sparked outrage. In a way, it mirrored the always-online model that's prevalent in so many games today, such as Diablo 4. But, as time passed, the convenient distribution model, coupled with Steam's irresistible sales, lured users in droves.