Steam celebrates 20 years of revolutionizing online gaming

Steam is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and the platform's page is a treasure trove of nostalgia. The online gaming platform made its debut on September 12, 2003, and since then has revolutionized the way online games are sold. At that time, physical copies of games were common, and the idea of a dedicated portal like Steam was an intriguing novelty.

Initially, Steam offered only Valve's first-party titles, but it quickly became the epicenter for distributing mods on the emerging Source engine of the time. This legacy remains strong, providing developers with a vital platform to showcase and share their work.

The official Steam 20th-anniversary page offers an exciting year-by-year retrospective of the most popular games, adorned with iconic Valve characters delving into the memes that have marked the internet over the past two decades, all lovingly illustrated by Claire Hummel.

Moreover, many of these illustrations have come to life as animated stickers in the Steam Points Shop.

The platform has become the standard for PC gamers to discover new titles. As Valve invests in new hardware, the hope for a sequel to the incredible Steam Deck is a source of excitement for gaming enthusiasts. This is the legacy of Steam — 20 years of innovation and a bright future ahead.