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Valve published additional games through Sierra, including expansions for Half-Life and Counter-Strike. The contract had given some intellectual property (IP) rights to Sierra in addition to publishing control. Valve had entered into a publishing contract with Sierra Studios in 1997 ahead of the 1998 release of Half-Life. History Timeline of release events 2002įilm/TV purchases/renting added to catalog The success of Steam has led to the development of a line of Steam Machine microconsoles, which include the SteamOS operating system and Steam Controllers, Steam Link devices for local game streaming, and the Steam Deck, a handheld personal computer system tailored for running Steam games. By 2019, the service had over 34,000 games with over 95 million monthly active users.
#Steam overlay Pc
By 2017, users purchasing games through Steam totaled roughly US$4.3 billion, representing at least 18% of global PC game sales. The Steam platform is the largest digital distribution platform for PC gaming, holding around 75% of the market share in 2013. The platform also offers a small selection of other content, including design software, hardware, game soundtracks, anime, and films.
#Steam overlay windows
Mobile apps were also released for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone in the 2010s.
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Though initially developed for use on Microsoft Windows operating systems, versions for macOS and Linux were later released.
#Steam overlay software
The software provides a freely available application programming interface (API) called Steamworks, which developers can use to integrate many of Steam's functions into their products, including in-game achievements, microtransactions, and support for user-created content through Steam Workshop. It also provides the user with installation and automatic updating of games, and community features such as friends lists and groups, cloud storage, and in-game voice and chat functionality. Steam offers digital rights management (DRM), server hosting, video streaming, and social networking services. Steam has also expanded into an online web-based and mobile digital storefront. It was launched as a standalone software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to include games from third-party publishers. Steam is a video game digital distribution service by Valve.
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