Last Updated: 12th August 2009
Steam is a digital distribution system built by the creators of the Half Life series of games.
It first came about when valve were looking for a better way to update their existing games. Valve first introduced it as a way to get the latest update for the popular online multiplayer game Counter Strike. All existing valve games could be linked to the platform and people quickly found it to be an extremely convenient way to play games.
Many years later Steam now enables publishers and developers from around the world to sell their products online. Everyone is given the same toolset that allows for the updating of their games, selling Downloadable content and running special offers to increase sales.
Advantages:
Huge game catalogue
Auto updating of games
Only online platform to offer Half Life series
Weekend deals
Play your games on any PC
It's Valve
Disadvantages:
Some games cannot be played while offline
Games are sometimes more than on other platforms
Games only, no applications
Steam was the first big online distributor of it's kind, which means it's often the trend setter. It's not perfect but it really is a must for any gamer.
