Steam, developed by Valve, launched in September 2003 primarily to automatically update their own video games, later expanding to distribute third-party titles by late 2005. This comprehensive digital distribution service offers essential features like game server matchmaking with Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC), cloud storage, social networking, and robust community tools including forums and an in-game overlay. Rapidly becoming the largest digital distribution platform for PC games, Steam achieved an estimated 75% market share by 2013 and boasted over 34,000 games with 132 million monthly active users by 2021.
Its influence grew further with the 2008 release of Steamworks, an API for developers to integrate Steam functions, and its expansion from Windows to macOS (2010), Linux (2013), and mobile platforms (2012). Leveraging this success, Valve has also created innovative hardware such as the Steam Machine PCs, the Steam Controller, and most notably, the handheld Steam Deck in 2022, specifically designed for playing its extensive game library.