Steam: Rags to Riches

I find it's almost unheard of nowadays for a digital product to overcome a poor launch. There's a number of reasons for this, not the least of which is bad word-of-mouth mixed with the incredible rate at which said information travels. The product is crushed before it has time to right itself. Maybe it's a good thing: survival of the fittest, etc, but I'd like to see some underdogs come out on top occasionally. And the one product I've seen do just that is Valve's Steam client.

Steam is a combination of

• messaging service
• community forums
• online store
• content delivery system
• and game management client

There are also controversial elements of DRM here but that's not the focus, so I'm willing to overlook it.

Failure to Launch

Steam came on the scene in 2003 and most people, myself included, thought it was a cumbersome piece of crap. It wasn't the first product of its kind and it didn't even outperform it's peers when it released. I was annoyed at requiring a persistent internet connection to enjoy my content as well as the ridiculous advertisements that appeared constantly.

Present day Steam is top of its class and a pleasure to use. Some of the basic services like the messaging system and community features are nothing revolutionary, but they work well. It's the online store and the content delivery system that make Steam shine.

Having worked in advertising I find myself painfully aware of being sold something. On the rare occasions that I do get an advertisement from Steam I more often than not end up purchasing the product. Their sales usually allow you to play a game free over the weekend and buy it on Monday for 40%-75% off. Most of these are older games that I would have forgotten about or indie games that don't get much media coverage. I usually find myself half-heartedly annoyed that Valve is so good at selling games, even if it isn't theirs.

The Digital Age

Steam also allows you to access digital copies of the game at any time. For those that insist on hard-copies, this is often a deal-breaker, and while physical copies have their advantages, I enjoy being able to buy a new computer and queue game downloads and installations. Because few things suck more than sitting at the computer, watching endless progress bars and 'Insert Next CD' popups.

I'm thrilled that diligently revamping digital products still pays off and I hope other companies can emulate this. Between offering hefty discounts and providing a more viable outlet for indie game developers, Steam has kept me and many others coming back for more.