The Best PC online game store
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Steam is a huge online platform for purchasing and downloading games. The company behind it (Valve) initially launched in 2003 as a way for the company to distribute its own video game titles. However, Steam has expanded significantly over the years, offering more than just video games. Thanks mainly to its convenient functions like streaming and automatic update management, Steam has become extremely popular, with over 125 million active users worldwide.
You'll find more than 61,500 games available for download. The developers patched many of these games with Steamworks, a collection of free and paid-for options that include automatic updates, cloud saves, achievements, chat services, and multiplayer matchmaking.
If you are looking for an alternative to Steam, check out Origin, GOG and Epic Games.
What is Steam?
Steam has a huge game library. It also has thousands of major releases from mainstream publishers and offers one of the best collections of PC games on any online store. Users can also download game updates automatically, save their progress in the cloud, track achievements via the Steam Community, and chat with other players using voice or text.
Other features include remote play (allowing users to play a game on one computer using another PC), remote downloads (allowing users to start a download from one device and complete it from another), and streaming video gameplay.
How many games are on Steam?
The number of games available on Steam is always increasing. At the time of writing, over 61,500 titles are available. This includes AAA games from large publishers and Indie developers, who sell their creations on Steam's platform. In addition, Steam adds new games and DLCs nearly every day, and Valve is working hard to ensure that Steam users always have something new to play.
Searching for games on Steam
Steam makes it relatively easy to search through their huge library of computer games. Several filters make it straightforward for users to find what they want. You can search using various criteria such as price, duration, and genre. For instance, if you only want the cheapest games available on Steam then there is a filter for that. Or, if you want to find games that are only free, then this is also possible too.
Users can choose from several genres such as action, adventure and strategy. Alternatively, the ‘Top Sellers’ section provides a quick way for users to see which titles other people on Steam are purchasing the most. Users can also search using 'Tags' and combine multiple tags. For example, if you want to find games about ‘dogs’ and also have an interest in ‘RPGs’, then simply type 'Dogs+RPG' into the search bar to get all dog RPG-related content on Steam.
Using Steam's interface
Steam is easy to navigate thanks to the menus across the top of the screen. Each menu contains several buttons and links that open different parts of Steam's interface.
- The 'Library' displays all the games the user has registered on their account.
- The 'Store' button takes users to the store itself, where they can browse new releases and other titles from third-party publishers. Users can also do things such as add items to their wishlist or start a discussion in the forums.
- The 'Community' button takes users to the Steam Community, which is the main social hub for Steam users where they can communicate with other people on Steam and join user groups.
- The 'Search' button opens a search bar that lets users look for games on Steam by keyword, genre, price or popularity.
- The 'News' button brings up all the latest news from Steam's blog about upcoming updates and developers using the Steam platform.
- Finally, the last menu item is 'VR', which takes users to a dedicated page where they can learn about Steam VR support.
The leading online PC game store
Steam has changed the way many gamers buy, download, and play games. While Steam was not the first game storefront, it is among the most successful in terms of popularity with PC gamers.
With over 61,500 titles in its library, ranging from action-adventure titles, role-playing games, simulation titles, free-to-play MMORPGs and many more. Gamers can find a wide variety of games to suit their preference. Steam is also constantly evolving by offering users new content and updates regularly.
