PC game powerhouse Valve has revealed thatits digital download platform, Steam, now boasts30 million members. That's a growth of 178% over the last 12 months.
So it would seem there are more people interested in computer gaming than PC doomsday prophets like to believe. In fact, every day an average of six million users log into their Steam accounts.
And along with all that new user growth, sales are up substantially as well. Steam is processing 200% more revenue in digital game sales than it was the previous year. Not bad for a company trying to struggle through the aftermath of a recession.
Since Valve likes to play the number game, here are some more interesting factoids. There are now over 1,200 games available on Steam, and revenue growth on the service has grown at yearly rates of over 100% for six years. That's every year since it was introduced. To accommodate all this growth, Steam can now run at a maximum of 400 Gps, which it says is enough to "ship a digitized version of the Oxford English Dictionary 92.6 times per second."
"Steam is on track to record the biggest year in its six year history," said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. "The year has marked major development advances to the platform with the introduction of support for Mac titles, the Steam Wallet and in-game item buying support, and more."
Indeed, Steam is easily recognized as the go-to place for anyone who wants to instantly buy, download, and play a PC or Mac game from any of the top publishers in the industry. In addition to making it easier to impulse buy some of the most epic computer games ever, it has also expanded the casual games market. Steam currently has almost 250 games available for under $5.
Oct 18, 2010
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