Steam surpasses 13 million user accounts

Valve’s computer game digital distributor, multiplayer and communications platform Steam has already gathered a following of more than 13 million users according to a recent press release. Gamers consistently log in over 7 billion player minutes per month, which should give most people an idea on just how popular this site is.

The platform started out as a convenient way of auto-updating Valve’s multiplayer games. As time went on, this system grew into the system we know now. Valve has given word that more major publishers will be announcing that they will be using Steam for electronic distribution of their product as well as adding it to the retail product releases to take advantage of the anti-piracy, server browsing, marketing promotions and other features of the platform.

Here’s the president and co-founder of Valve, Gabe Newell, on Steam’s growth and development as well as Valve’s plans for it.

We’ve approached the development of Steam the same way we treat our online games; we release something we’ve tested, we internalize the feedback, and then we release new features and functionality based upon the feedback received.

In Steam’s case, we have millions of customers who are gamers and dozens of customers who are developers and publishers. In the past year, we’ve added over 100 new titles from third parties, grown to over 13 million active accounts, and introduced new features such as Guest Passes and Free Weekends.

This growth has taught us a lot and inspired many additional features and services that we’ll be releasing later this year.

For those who are planning on signing up, Steam is currently available in 18 different languages and has free membership. Once you have an account, you can start purchasing games or downloading demos from the site. However, be advised that the site collects information from its users. The exact data they get has not been disclosed to the public, but it can’t be that bad if they can claim a population of over 13 million users right?

Valve’s computer game digital distributor, multiplayer and communications platform Steam has already gathered a following of more than 13 million users according to a recent press release. Gamers consistently log in over 7 billion player minutes per month, which should give most people an idea on just how popular this site is.

The platform started out as a convenient way of auto-updating Valve’s multiplayer games. As time went on, this system grew into the system we know now. Valve has given word that more major publishers will be announcing that they will be using Steam for electronic distribution of their product as well as adding it to the retail product releases to take advantage of the anti-piracy, server browsing, marketing promotions and other features of the platform.

Here’s the president and co-founder of Valve, Gabe Newell, on Steam’s growth and development as well as Valve’s plans for it.

We’ve approached the development of Steam the same way we treat our online games; we release something we’ve tested, we internalize the feedback, and then we release new features and functionality based upon the feedback received.

In Steam’s case, we have millions of customers who are gamers and dozens of customers who are developers and publishers. In the past year, we’ve added over 100 new titles from third parties, grown to over 13 million active accounts, and introduced new features such as Guest Passes and Free Weekends.

This growth has taught us a lot and inspired many additional features and services that we’ll be releasing later this year.

For those who are planning on signing up, Steam is currently available in 18 different languages and has free membership. Once you have an account, you can start purchasing games or downloading demos from the site. However, be advised that the site collects information from its users. The exact data they get has not been disclosed to the public, but it can’t be that bad if they can claim a population of over 13 million users right?