Steam: What is Steam?

Steam is a digital video game distribution service and storefront created by the same company that was behind games like CS:GO and Dota. The service has many loyal fans because of all the features the store has, such as digital rights management (DRM), game server matchmaking, anti-cheat measures, social networking in-game achievements, microtransactions, user-created content support, and game streaming services.

While it was originally developed for Microsoft Windows, it has since then gone on to be compatible with Mac OS, Linux, iOS, and even Android devices. While the steam app is available on the aforementioned mobile devices, the PC gaming market is where it’s best known.

The service allows over 132 million active monthly customers to pick and choose from over 35,000 games to buy at any time, including incredibly popular games such as Dota 2 and CS:GO, which you can only legally download from Steam.

By 2017, users purchasing games through Steam totaled approximately $4.3 billion, and the number is expected to have close to doubled since then because of the immense boost in popularity the gaming scene has gotten in recent years.

What is the Steam Deck?

The popularity of Steam gave birth to several devices with the Steam name. However, none have been as successful as the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming computer that launched in 2022.

While it’s able to play most of the Steam library of games, its biggest appeal is the fact that the Steam Deck is open software, which means people that own it can freely install other compatible games, devices, and even software.