Steam is the most successful online gaming portal on the market, and the selection of titles and returning sales have attracted more than 40 million users. Users that after September 5th will be able to buy other kinds of software through the Steam portal.
Valve has not revealed exactly what kind of software it will be dealing with, but it will most likely be a braoder selection of programs and applications for productivity or pleasure. The company has been showing great progress with its Linux-based client of Steam and games optimized for this platform, while also criticizing Microsoft and Windows 8 harshly. That Valve VP Gave Newell attacked Microsoft and its new focus with Windows 8 comes extra fitting since the software giant will introduce its own app store, a service Valve will compete with apparently.
“Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the first set of Software titles are heading to Steam, marking a major expansion to the platform most commonly known as a leading destination for PC and Mac games,”
On September 5th it will open up for developers to sell their applications and programs through Steam. Most applications will use Valve’s Steamwork functions, including easy and automatic updates and the possibility to store stuff in the Steam cloud, enabling you to work from different systems and applications.
In the press release Valve mentions that the new venture with a broader selection of software in the Steam portal has come after customer suggestions. We are eager to see what kind of software Steam will offer on September 5th, but also try to keep calm during the unavoidable sales that has a tendency to make you buy one or two Steam titles more than you need.
