Steam

Steam Logo

Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve first established on September 23, 2003. Steam allows users to purchase and play products through the steam client. Steam is highly praised for its list of other non-essential features and is currently the most popular digital distributor of games on the PC/MAC platforms, which has led to controversy surrounding some users boycotting games not sold on the service. Although Steam is the major distributor, users only own the licenses to games, not the game itself as stated in the EULA. Valve reserves the right to revoke all games on a specific user's account without reason.

Steam is also known for the popular "Steamworks" platform which is a DRM service which requires the user to be online in order to play. The offline mode has been reported to be unstable by various users.

Steam Store

Products can be purchased or redeemed through the Steam Store. Once purchased, they can be downloaded via Steam Client. Steam allows users to buy games(licenses) for their account, as well as play Free to Play (Also known as F2P) and game demos. Steam allows users to purchase and 'gift' a product to another user. Products include Full games, downloadable content, trailers, demos, music, or other products in the store.

Steam is a region based store which can lead to controversy about the price structure of games outside of the United States (for example a game within the U.S could be $60 while in Australia it could be $99. In effect if a country has banned or changed a game then the legal version (if any at all) will be in the store (for example in Germany 'Dead Island' is not available for purchase).

On May 15, 2012, GameStop began selling Steam Wallet Cash Cards

Competition

While Steam the leader in the market, in the last few years have seen the risen of other digital distributors. Notable is Origin by EA, Games For Windows Marketplace by Microsoft, Direct to Download by IGN and GOG by ProjectCD.

List of Steam Games

The following is a list of popular titles available on Steam: (alphabetized for convenience)

1... 2... 3... KICK IT!

1000 Amps

1701 A.D. Gold Edition

2XL Supercross

3SwitcheD

A Farewell to Dragons

A Valley Without Wind

A Virus Named Tom

Aaaaa! for the Awesome

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!

Achron

Advent Rising

Adventures of Shuggy

Age of Conan Series

Age of Empires III

Age of Empires Online

Age of Wonders

Aion

Airline Tycoon 2

Alan Wake

Alien Breed series

Alien Hallway

Alien Shooter series

Alien Swarm

Alien Zombie Megadeath

Aliens vs Predator

Aliens vs. Predator Classic 2000

All Aspect Warfare

All Zombies Must Die

Alliance of Valiant Arms

Alpha Prime

Alpha Protocol

Alter Ego

AlternativA

Altitude

America's Army 3

American Conquest

Ancients of Ooga

And Yet It Moves

Angle of Attack

Anno series

APB Reloaded

APOX

Aquaria

Arcadia

ArcaniA – Gothic 4

Archon Classic

ARMA series

Arx Fatalis

Assassin's Creed series

Astro Tripper

Atom Zombie Smasher

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Audiosurf

Auditorium

Avernum series

Aztaka

Back to the Future

Baconing, The

Ball, The

Bard's Tale, The

Bastion

Batman: Arkham City

Battlefield series

BattleForge

Battlestations series

Beat Hazard

BEEP

Bejeweled series

Beyond Good & Evil

Big Brain Wolf

Binary Domain

Binding of Isaac, The

Bionic Commando series

BioShock series

BIT.TRIP BEAT

BIT.TRIP RUNNER

Blackwell series

Blade Kitten

Blades of Time

Blazing Angels series

Blocks That Matter

Blood Bowl series

Bloodline Champions

Bloody Good Time

Blue Toad Murder Files

Blueberry Garden

Blur

Bob Came in Pieces

Booster Trooper

Borderlands

Botanicula

Braid

Brawl Busters

Breach

Breath of Death VII

BRINK

Broken Sword series

Brothers in Arms series

Bullet Candy

Bulletstorm

Bunch of Heroes

Burn Zombie Burn!

Call of Cthulhu

Call of Duty series

Call of Juarez series

Capsized

Cargo – The Quest for Gravity

Caster

Cat and the Coup, The

Cave Story+

Ceville

Chains

Championship Manager series

Chantelise

Chaos Theory

Chaser

Children of the Nile

Chime

Choplifter HD

Chrome

Chronicles of Riddick

CID the Dummy

Cities In Motion

Cities XL

City of Heroes

Clickr

Clive Barker's Jericho

Clockwork Man, The

Clones

Cloning Clyde

Club, The

Clutch

Cogs

Combat Wings

Command & Conquer series

Commandos series

Company of Heroes series

Confrontation

Coniclysm

Cossacks series

Costume Quest

Counter-Strike

Crash Time series

Crasher

Crayon Physics Deluxe

Crazy Machines series

Cricket Revolution

CrimeCraft

Critical Mass

Crusader Kings II

Cryostasis

Crysis series

Cthulhu Saves the World

Cubemen

Culpa Innata

Cursed Crusade, The

Damnation

Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!

Dark Messiah Might and Magic

Dark Sector

Dark Souls

Dark Void

Darkest of Days

Darkness II, The

Darksiders

Darkspore

Darkstar One

Darwinia

Dawn of Discovery series

Dawn of Magic 2

Day of Defeat

DC Universe Online

Dead Horde

Dead Hungry Diner

Dead Island

Dead Mountaineer's Hotel

Dead Rising 2

Dead Space series

Dear Esther

Death and the Fly

Death to Spies

Deathmatch Classic

DeathSpank

DEFCON

Defenders of Ardania

Defy Gravity Extended

Delta Force series

Delve Deeper

Demigod

Demolition Company

Demolition Inc.

Depths of Peril

DETOUR

Deus Ex series

Devil May Cry series

Diamond Dan

Dig, The

Dimensity

Dino D-Day

DiRT series

Disciples series

Dive to the Titanic

Divinity II

DogFighter

Doom Rails

Doom series

Dota 2

Dragon Age series

Drakensang

Dream Machine, The

Dreamcast Collection

Dreamkiller

Driver San Francisco

Droplitz

Drug Wars

Duke Nukem Forever

Dungeon Defenders

Dungeon Siege series

Dungeons

Dungeons of Dredmor

Dustforce

Dwarfs!?

Dynamite Jack

Earth 2160

Earth Defense Force

Earthworm Jim series

East India Company

EDGE

Eets

Elven Legacy

Emergency 2012

Endless Space

Eternity's Child

Eufloria

Europa Universalis series

EVE Online

EverQuest series

Eversion

Everyday Shooter

Evil Genius

Evochron Mercenary

F.E.A.R. series

F1 2010

F1 2011

Fable series

Faerie Solitaire

Fallen Earth

Fallout series

Fantasy Wars

Far Cry series

Farming Simulator 2011

Fatale

Fate of the World

Fieldrunners

FIFA Manager series

First Templar, The

Fish Fillets 2, The

Flat Out series

Flight Control HD

Flock!

Flotilla

Fluttabyes

Football Manager series

For The Glory

Forsaken World

Fortix series

Fortune Summoners

Fowl Space

Freedom Force series

From Dust

Front Mission Evolved

Frozen Synapse

FUEL

Full Pipe

Full Spectrum Warrior

Future Wars

Galactic Bowling

Galcon Fusion

Game of Thrones

Garry's Mod

Gatling Gears

Gemini Rue

Geneforge Saga

Genesis Rising

Ghost Master

Ghostbusters

Gish

Godfather series, The

Gods and Heroes

Gotham City Impostors

Gothic series

Grand Theft Auto series

Gratuitous Space Battles

Gratuitous Tank Battles

Graveyard, The

Gravitron 2

Greed Corp

GRID

Grotesque Tactics series

Guardians of Graxia

Guild II series

Guild Wars

Gumboy series

GUN

Gundemonium Collection

Guns of Icarus

Gyromancer

Hack, Slash, Loot

Hacker Evolution

Half-Life

Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 / Source Third-Party Mods

Half-Life Mods

Hamilton’s Great Adventure

Hammerfight

Hard Reset

Haunted Hells Reach, The

Hazen

Hearts of Iron series

Hegemony Gold

Helldorado

Heroes of Annihilated Empires

Heroes of Might and Magic V

Heroes of Might and Magic VI

Hexen series

Hinterland

History Channel series

Hitman series

HOARD

Homefront

I-Fluid

i'm not alone

iBomber Defense

Ignite

Indiana Jones series

Indigo Prophecy

Infernal

inMomentum

Insane 2

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

Inside a Star-Filled Sky

Ion Assault

Iron Grip series

ItzaBitza & ItzaZoo

Jagged Alliance Series

Jamestown

Joint Operations series

Joint Task Force

Jolly Rover

Just Cause series

Kane & Lynch series

Killing Floor

King Arthur series

King's Bounty series

King's Crusade, The

King's Quest Collection

Kingpin

Knights of Honor

Kohan series

Krater

KrissX

L.A. Noire

Larva Mortus

Last Remnant, The

Lead and Gold

League of Legends

Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead 2

Legend of Grimrock

Legendary

LEGO Batman

LEGO Harry Potter

LEGO Indiana Jones

LEGO Star Wars

Light of Altair

Lightfish

LIMBO

Loki

Lone Survivor

Longest Journey, The

LOOM

Lord of the Rings series, The

Lost Horizon

Lost Planet series

Lucid

Lucidity

Lumines

Lunar Flight

Luxor series

M.U.D. TV

Macguffin's Curse

Machinarium

Mad Riders

Mafia series

Magical Diary

Magicka

Majesty series

Manhunt

Mass Effect series

Massive Assault series

Mata Hari

Maw, The

Max and the Magic Marker

Max Payne series

Mayhem Intergalactic

MDK series

Medal of Honor series

Medieval II series

Memoir '44 Online

Men of War series

Merchants of Brooklyn

Metal Drift

Metro 2033

Metro: Last Light

Mevo & The Grooveriders

Microsoft Flight

Midnight Club 2

Mini Ninjas

Mirror's Edge

Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, The

Mishap series

MLB 2K9

Mole Control

Monday Night Combat

Monster Jam

Monster Trucks Nitro

Moon Breakers

Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls III

Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection

Mosby's Confederacy

Mount & Blade series

Movies, The

Multiwinia

MX vs ATV Reflex

Myst series

nail’d

Nancy Drew series

NASA Moonbase Alpha

Nation Red

Naval Warfare

NBA 2K series

NecroVision series

Need for Speed series

Neverwinter Nights 2

Next Big Thing, The

Nexuiz

Nimbus

Ninja Blade

Noitu Love 2 Devolution

Nuclear Dawn

Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls IV

Obulis

Oddworld series

Offspring Fling!

Oil Rush

Orcs Must Die!

Order of War

Osmos

Out of the Park Baseball 9

Overlord series

Pacific Storm series

Painkiller series

Pat & Mat

Path, The

Patricians series

PAYDAY The Heist

PC Gamer Digital

Peggle series

Penny Arcade Adventures

Penumbra series

Pickers

Pineapple Smash Crew

Pirates of Black Cove

Pirates of the Burning Sea

PixelJunk Eden

Plain Sight

Planet Busters

Plants vs. Zombies

Poker Night at the Inventory

Poker Superstars II

Pole Position 2012

Polynomial, The

Port Royale series

Portal

Portal 2

Post Apocalyptic Mayhem

Post Mortem

Postal III

Pound of Ground

Power of Defense

PoxNora

Prey

Prince of Persia series

Project Aftermath

Project Freedom

ProtoGalaxy

Prototype

Psychonauts

PT Boats series

Puzzle Agent

Puzzle Chronicles

Puzzle Dimension

Puzzle Kingdoms

Puzzle Pirates

Puzzle Quest 2

Puzzlegeddon

Pyroblazer

Q.U.B.E.

Quake series

Quantum of Solace

Quantz

R.U.S.E

RACE series

Rag Doll Kung Fu

RAGE

Railroad Tycoon

RailWorks

Ravaged

Raycatcher

Rayman series

Real Warfare

Really Big Sky

Realm of the Mad God

Recettear

Red Bull X-Fighters

Red Faction series

Red Orchestra series

Renegade Ops

Resident Evil series

Restaurant Empire II

Retro/Grade

Revelations 2012

Revenge of the Titans

Rhythm Zone

Ricochet (GldSrc)

Ridge Racer Unbounded

RIFT

Rig n Roll

RIP Trilogy

Rise of Immortals

Rise of the Argonauts

Risen Series

RoboBlitz

Rochard

Rock of Ages

Rocket Knight

Rogue Trooper

Rogue Warrior

Roller Coaster Rampage

Rugby Challenge

Runaway series

Rune Classic

Runespell Overture

RUSH

Rush for Berlin Gold

Rusty Hearts

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series

Sacraboar

Sacred series

Sacrifice

Saints Row 2

Saints Row The Third

Sam & Max series

Samorost2

Sanctum

Satazius

SAW

Scary Girl

Scoregasm

Scratches

Secret Files series

Secret of Monkey Island series

Secret of the Magic Crystals

Section 8 series

Sega Classics

SEGA Rally Revo

Sengoku

Sequence

Serious Sam series

Settlers series, The

Shadowgrounds series

Shank

Shatter

Shattered Horizon

Shattered Suns

Shattered Union

Shaun White Snowboarding

Sherlock Holmes series

Ship Simulator Extremes

Ship, The

Shoot Many Robots

Shrek Forever After

Sid Meier's Civilization series

Sid Meier's Pirates!

Sid Meier's Railroads

Sideway

Silent Hunter series

Silverfall series

SimCity 4

Sims 3, The

SiN Episodes

Singularity

SkyDrift

Skyrim, The Elder Scrolls V

Sleeping Dogs

Smash Cars

Smashing Toys

Sniper Elite series

Snuggle Truck

Sol Survivor

Solar 2

Sonic the Hedgehog series

Space Ark

Space Empires V

Space Pirates and Zombies

Space Quest Collection

Space Rangers series

Space Siege

SpaceChem

Spec Ops: The Line

Spectraball

Spectromancer

Speedball 2

Spellforce series

Spiral Knights

Splice

SPORE

Stacking

Stalin vs. Martians

Star Ruler

STAR TREK D-A-C

Star Trek Online

Star Wars collection

Star Wolves series

Stargate Resistance

Starpoint Gemini

Stellar Impact

Still Life series

Storm in a Teacup

Stormrise

Street Fighter IV

Street Fighter X Tekken

Strong Bad's Cool Game

Stronghold series

Super Laser Racer

Super Meat Boy

Super MNC

Supreme Commander series

Supreme Ruler series

Swarm Arena

Swords & Soldiers

Syberia series

System Protocol One

Take On Helicopters

Tales of Monkey Island series

Tank Universal

Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress Classic

Terminator Salvation

Terraria

Test Drive Unlimited 2

Texas Cheat 'Em

Theatre of War series

Thief series

Ticket to Ride

Tidalis

TimeShift

Tiny Bang Story, The

Titan Quest

Tobe’s Vertical Adventure

Toki Tori series

Tom Clancy collection

Tomb Raider series

Top Gun

Top Spin 2

Torchlight series

Toy Soldiers

Trackmania series

Trainz series

Trapped Dead

Trauma

Trine series

Trino

Tropico series

Tunnel Rats

Turba

Twin Sector

Two Worlds

UFO Extraterrestials Gold

UnderGarden, The

Universe Sandbox

Unreal series

Unstoppable Gorg

Uplink

Velvet Assassin

Vertex Dispenser

Vessel

Victoria II

Virtua Tennis series

Virtual Families

Void, The

VVVVVV

Walking Dead, The

Wallace & Gromit

War Inc. Battlezone

Warfare

Warlock - Master of the Arcane

Warp

Wasteland Angel

Waveform

Waves

Whispered World

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Special Editions

Who's That Flying

Wik & The Fable of Souls

Windosill

Wings of Prey

Winter Voices

Witcher, The

Wizorb

Wolfenstein series

Wonderful End of the World, The

World Basketball Manager 2010

World in Conflict

World of Goo

World of Zoo

Worms series

X-Blades

X-COM series

Xotic

Xpand Rally series

You Don't Know Jack

Your Doodles Are Bugged

Ys: The Oath in Felghana

Zeit²

Zen Bound 2

Zen of Sudoku

Zeno Clash

Zero Gear

Zombie Driver

Zombie Pirates

Zombie Shooter series

Zuma's Revenge!

List of Publishers

The following list has publishers that release games on Steam:

1C Company

2K Games

Activision

Aspyr Media

Atari

Basilisk Games

Bethesda

Big Fish Games

Blitz 1UP

Capcom

City Interactive

Codemasters

Cyan Worlds

DTP Entertainment

Eidos

Electronic Arts

Epic Games

Focus Home Interactive

Freeze Tag

id Software

InterPlay

Introversion Software

ISOTX

iWin

Kalypso Media Digital

KranX Productions

Last Day of Work

Lazy 8 Studios

Llamasoft

LucasArts

Majesco

Meridian4

Moonpod

MumboJumbo

NCsoft

Nordic Games

Novalogic

Paradox Interactive

PlayFirst

PopCap Games

Rebellion

Reflexive Entertainment

Rockstar Games

Sandlot Games

SEGA

Shrapnel Games

Size Five Games

Sony Online Entertainment

SouthPeak Games

Square Enix

Strategy First

Telltale Games

THQ

Topware

Tripwire Interactive

Ubisoft

ValuSoft

Valve

Yullaby