Publisher pulled game from Steam library 13 years after activation
A digital library creates a pleasant illusion of ownership. You buy a game, activate it, and it sits on a virtual shelf for as long as the account lives. The illusion holds right up until...
Valve sound designer accidentally mentioned HLX during a public lecture
Valve composer and sound designer Mike Morasky said the codename HLX out loud at GameSoundCon. Valve has never officially acknowledged that the game exists, and the slip came in passing, in the middle of a...
Steam Next Fest is drowning in AI slop, and gamers demand filtering systems from Valve
The October Steam Next Fest has drawn a wave of criticism from developers, journalists, and players. According to GameDiscoverCo, the event features almost 7,100 demos, compared to 900 in October 2023. A noticeable share of...
Former Valve writer explains why Gabe Newell considers Steam an analog of an MMO
Steam can be described as a store for buying and downloading digital games. But that alone doesn't explain why players are so devoted to the Valve platform compared to rivals like the Epic Games Store....
Valve split achievements in Steam, and players consider this update one of the best in its history
Achievement hunting runs on a feeling of closure: the final checkmark, the coveted 100%, and the game can be put to rest with a clear conscience. But that fragile harmony shatters at the slightest nudge....
Some gamers are glad they've learned not to buy games on Steam sales that will just gather dust in their library
For more than a decade, Steam sales trained players into a simple reflex: see a red price tag, hit "buy," and figure out when to play later. Lately the script has flipped, and the flex...
Student dedicates master's thesis to a system that identifies cheaters' additional accounts in Counter-Strike 2 by mouse and keyboard movements
Norwegian University of Science and Technology student Christopher B. Didriksen dedicated his Master's thesis to a biometric system that recognizes Counter-Strike 2 players by how they control their games. The method could help catch banned...
Billionaire and Valve founder Gabe Newell confirmed the story about five months of throat singing in the office
Gabe Newell has seemingly confirmed one of the stranger stories to come out of Valve, replying to a fan who emailed to ask whether he really spent months practicing throat singing in the office –...
Gabe Newell decided to make Steam after telling the original Half-Life publisher to get lost
Valve launching Steam back in 2004 changed how PC games get distributed almost overnight, and plenty of people rank that decision right up there with Nintendo making Super Mario Bros. and Sony creating the PlayStation....
Valve quietly changed the Steam storefront, and indie developers are seeing traffic increase several times over
Steam discoverability has been a headache for years, with dozens of new releases hitting the storefront daily and making it easy for a lesser-known indie title to vanish. But according to analysts and publishers alike,...
An old video of Gabe Newell explaining why Valve will never become a public company that answers to shareholders has gone viral online
An old clip of Gabe Newell has resurfaced online, showing the Valve boss discussing private company ownership and prioritizing employees over shareholders. The clip feels especially relevant given the wave of layoffs sweeping the tech...
Gamers crashed Wardogs servers on the very first day of early access – developers partially blame Valve
Wardogs, a 100-player milsim FPS, launched in Steam early access and instantly became a hit. The game topped Steam's global sales chart, and its player count blew past 300,000 concurrent users right away. Not everyone...
Valve requires old CD key from Half-Life 2 to return the player's old account
A Steam account owner whose account was registered more than a decade ago ran into a lockdown over suspicious activity. To prove ownership, he sent Steam Support old email addresses, past passwords, the last four...
Steam brought Valve $15 billion in 2026, with Crimson Desert alone earning $203 million
Valve continues to post record numbers through Steam. According to market analysis from Alinea Analytics lead Rhys Elliott, the platform pulled in roughly $15 billion in gross revenue over the first eight months of 2026...
Half of paid games on Steam earned less than $3,600, while the top 1% of the most successful releases brought in 85% of the revenue
A new analysis of 99,206 paid games on Steam shows just how polarized the economics of Valve's platform have become. Half the catalogue has earned less than $3,622 over its entire lifetime, while the top...
Valve saved the current build of Half-Life: Alyx to a separate branch, and the community is already building theories
A new Steam branch for Half-Life: Alyx called "previous_release" has shown up. Valve locked down the current version of the game separately, which usually happens before major changes hit the main build. The most likely...
Steam Controller launches May 4 for $99 – leaked review reveals photos and specs
Japanese outlet 4Gamer accidentally published an early review of Valve's new Steam Controller, listing a May 4 release date. The article and accompanying social media post were taken down quickly, but Reddit users managed to...
A YouTuber built a homemade Steam Machine for $950
A YouTuber has built his own version of a Steam Machine, claiming the build could be faster and cheaper than Valve's upcoming console. The project was detailed in a video on the Zac Builds channel,...
UK music rights body sues Valve over unlicensed music on Steam
The Performing Right Society (PRS for Music) has officially commenced legal proceedings against Valve, accusing the company of using its members' musical works on Steam without the proper licensing. According to PRS, music is central...
Steam users downloaded 100 exabytes of games in 2025, averaging 274 petabytes a day
Valve has published its Steam Year in Review for 2025, and alongside the usual rundown of platform improvements for developers and publishers, there are some staggering numbers about user activity and data volumes. The platform...
