Threads
- Gabe Newell says 99% of the industry didn’t believe Steam would work.
- Making it a game distribution platform was originally pitched with Half-Life 2.
- The game’s success drove companies to launch their games on Steam.
Steam has unarguably become the default platform for most gamers. It has built a solid reputation over the years for its ease of access, variety of games, and much more. However, most of the industry didn’t believe that Steam would work initially.
Why it matters: Gamers and the industry, in general, were against the idea of downloading a client along with the game. It caused a major outroar at launch but later worked wonders for Valve.
Gabe Newell talked to PCGamer about how most people were skeptical about Steam at first. The idea initially came when Valve developed Half-Life 2 in 2004. They launched it on Steam, which wasn’t a game distribution platform at that time.
I mean like 99% of the companies we talked to said ‘It will never happen. Your retail sales force will never let it happen.
– Gabe Newell
The client software was criticized at first as people preferred physical copies and the idea of a digital storefront was very new. Nonetheless, Gabe and the team decided to make Steam a game distribution platform rather than just client software for Valve’s games.
However, when they first reached out to companies, most of them said that the idea wouldn’t work. 99% of the companies they talked to didn’t think this was a good idea. Later, the immense success of Half-Life 2 led to people believing in Steam.
This is how the biggest game distribution platform on the planet kicked off. Now, 20 years later, Valve recently updated Half-Life 2 for its anniversary, and the game broke all previous records, boasting 64K concurrent players.
The platform also hit a major milestone this year with 37 million concurrent users led by games like Black Myth: Wukong and more. It is also the undisputed king and the biggest of all the game distribution platforms that exist now.
What are your thoughts on the industry not believing in Steam when it first launched? Let us know your opinions in the comments, or join the discussion at the official Tech4Gamers Forum.
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News Reporter
Abdullah is an avid gamer who primarily plays single-player titles. If you can’t find him anywhere, he’ll probably be at his desk playing The Witcher 3 for the millionth time. When he isn’t playing games, he’s either reading or writing about them.
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