Valve Looks Beyond Games, Cooking Up Creativity and Productivity Software for Steam Platform
Get ready to view Steam in a whole new light, folks. Valve's uber-popular digital distribution platform has been all about games up to this point, but moving forward, it's also going to serve up other kinds of software, from creative applications to productivity programs, Valve announced today.
Valve described the move as a "major expansion to the platform most commonly known as a leading destination for PC and Mac games," and it's hard to argue with that statement. Steam has become the de facto standard for PC gaming in terms of digital distribution, and the move towards other kinds of software is both logical and exciting.
Starting September 5th, Steam will offer creative and productivity software, in addition to games.
"The Software titles coming to Steam range from creativity to productivity. Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, such as easy installation, automatic updating, and the ability to save your work to your personal Steam Cloud space so your files may travel with you," Valve explains.
Valve says there are 40 million gamers already on Steam, which could be just the tip of the iceberg once business users and other non-gamers flock to the service. Details are still forthcoming, but we're told an initial batch of alternative, non-game software will launch on September 5th, followed by more titles being "added in an ongoing fashion."
Valve described the move as a "major expansion to the platform most commonly known as a leading destination for PC and Mac games," and it's hard to argue with that statement. Steam has become the de facto standard for PC gaming in terms of digital distribution, and the move towards other kinds of software is both logical and exciting.
Starting September 5th, Steam will offer creative and productivity software, in addition to games.
"The Software titles coming to Steam range from creativity to productivity. Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, such as easy installation, automatic updating, and the ability to save your work to your personal Steam Cloud space so your files may travel with you," Valve explains.
Valve says there are 40 million gamers already on Steam, which could be just the tip of the iceberg once business users and other non-gamers flock to the service. Details are still forthcoming, but we're told an initial batch of alternative, non-game software will launch on September 5th, followed by more titles being "added in an ongoing fashion."
