Game Development
Nov 26th, 2024Are you running out of steam trying to distribute and/or monetize games you have developed? Do you feel like letting off steam when playing games because updates are slow, or you are not able to play with your friends? Well, it may be time for you to try Steam!
Steam is a platform developed by Valve Corporation for the digital distribution of games. Initially, it only distributed games from Valve. Today it’s a thriving community of gamers and developers who buy and sell Steam games for PC, stream videos, capture images, download remotely, and perform cloud saves. Let’s take a look at how using Steam will help your game sales pick up steam as game developers, and how you can play at full steam as gamers!
Steam was first launched in 2003 by Valve as a platform to update their multiplayer games swiftly; but initially, most gamers thought of it as restrictive, as players had to register to avoid piracy issues, and only Valve games were available. In 2005, the corporation signed on companies like Activision and Capcom to distribute their games, and the platform has not looked back since then.
The Steam Community Service was developed in 2007, after which the platform evolved significantly, as every individual could access groups and communicate. Besides offering many distinct advantages and discounts worldwide, anyone, anywhere in the world, can use the platform.
There were over 25 million active accounts at the beginning of 2010, making it the top game distributor globally, with a 70% share. The platform has been updated numerous times, and many new features were added; it began providing support to the macOS, too. The WebKit browser is another update that allows you to browse the whole platform or other sites.
Today, it even caters to consoles like PlayStation and Xbox in addition to PC games. Being a leading console game development company, Juego Studios has built several immersive Steam games that can be played on consoles and PCs. What’s more, gamers no longer have to download Steam games for PC. They can simply log in, buy, and play online.
Game developers, whether they are individual developers or large companies, can easily add their games to Steam, engage with gamers, and keep them updated via the store page. They can release patches whenever they want to fix bugs or release new features.
Gamers can buy many Steam games for PC here that are not available in their usual stores or online platforms, like Subnautica, one of the best Steam games of all time. Players can download games directly onto their PCs or consoles once they have registered on the platform. If you’re lucky, you may get good discounts and bundled deals on games too. You can also get software patches to fix glitches, and updates as they are released.
Players are given a Steam Library to view friends’ activities, game stats, game collection, and more. You can interact with other gamers in the community using Steam Chat and Game Hubs. Steam Broadcast lets players livestream their playthroughs, and you can use Steam Workshop to collaborate and perform player mods. These features foster an exciting level of interaction and are sure to enrich your experience as a Steam user.
Steam is currently one of the most sought-after game distribution platforms by developers. According to the stats released by Steam, it currently hosts over 179,000 games. In the early days, any developer could release their game here by paying a certain amount along with a percentage of the profits, but this deterred indie developers.
Steam Greenlight was launched to overcome this problem; first, to assess which indie games players wanted to play here. In 2017, Steam Direct was launched whereby developers could pay $100 and release their games on Steam, without waiting for the community vote.
A subsidiary platform called Steamworks was launched, allowing developers to release their games by partnering with Steam. The partnership allows developers to access Steamworks and Steam Direct, which also provided them free tools that could be used for game fine-tuning.
The Steam PC Cafe program is a commercial site license that offers the licensed game titles, Steam, and Steamworks functions. Members can access and download games into their individual accounts, and use Steam Workshop guidance to build the best steam games for PC.
You can monetize your Steam games for PC through outright sales, in-app purchases, in-game ad placements, video ads, display ads, selling merchandise, and by selling mods for other games. You can also offer subscriptions to players to play your games in whole or part, where they keep paying to unlock new levels.
Steam provides excellent technical support to all users of Steam games for PC. You can get on the support gage, view FAQs and potential problems along with solutions, and can also talk to them directly.
Steam Direct offers free tools and collaboration facilities to help with game development, refining gameplay, bug fixing, creating mods, and more.
Steam lets you rate and review Steam games for PC gamers have played, allowing them to contribute to the community. Others can see how long they have played the game, how helpful their review was to others, and whether they got it as a gift.
These reviews can help other players decide if they should buy a specific game or not, and they also can leave game reviews. As it’s a massive platform with millions of members, user reviews play a highly impactful role in deciding the fate of a game’s success.
Steam is supported by Microsoft Windows (version 7 and above), macOS (El Capitan and newer), and Ubuntu for Linux. This means you can easily run Steam PC games on virtual machines. CrossOver also makes it possible to run Windows games on Apple PCs. This translates into a larger target audience for you to sell your games to. More downloads, more ads, more in-app purchases = more revenue.
Thanks to its own cloud service, game settings, profile stats, file saves, and other Steam data are uploaded automatically. As most game titles allow Steam Cloud saving, you can easily store your game data online. This allows you to seamlessly continue your game on any other device. Simply download saved files on the Remote Storage page of Steam, and pick up where you left it. Along with free cloud storage, you also have smooth integration.
With tens of thousands of games in its library, it offers a mind-boggling collection of Steam games for PC. From Pac-Man to the latest CRPGs, it is the preferred choice of many developers and publishers.
All games are immaculately organized in the library; you can even add third-party games to your own library, and access them when you’re logged in to Steam. You can communicate with friends and enjoy Steam Remote Play Together, a co-op feature, by using Steam overlay on those games.
Steam is a highly secure platform that has several safeguards to prevent fraud and cheating in Steam games for PC, and protect genuine members. Registration is a must if you want to use the platform, either as gamers or developers. Gamers can only log in from one device at a time, so that your login info stays safe. The platform also uses data encryption, firewalls, and IAM protocols. Enabling Steam Guard will prompt you for a special code sent to you by e-mail or SMS, when you log in from a new device.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if you are able to download games you like on all of your devices? Of course, you can’t play them all simultaneously; you can log in to your account only on one computer or console. The Family Sharing feature lets you share your Steam games for PC, so that you can play with friends or family.
This eliminates the need for you to carry a hard drive with your games if you have computers in various places. For supported games, your saves will be synced automatically; simply download the game on a different computer to continue it elsewhere. It’s also handy if you get a new PC.
Steam has a virtual reality platform called SteamVR. It was created to furnish a framework for VR gaming experiences on a range of VR headsets. It links the ecosystem of the Steam platform with VR software and hardware, so that you can have an amazing VR experience with Steam games for PC.
What’s more, no other platform offers this level of VR support. In case you love VR games and have a headset or want to get yourself one, we recommend downloading Steam for a spectacular VR experience.
It’s not the least expensive, but you can get Steam games for PC for less than what you pay elsewhere. You can grab deals at their Summer Sale, look for bundle offers, add items to wishlist and get notified about price drops.
For gamers:
Unless you’re a complete introvert, gaming can get a bit lonely at times. Thanks to Steam community forums, you can join discussions about games, check for the latest updates and software patches, read notes from developers, and collaborate with other gamers.
Whenever you reach specific milestones, Steam uses them to enhance your profile. Such social features make gaming more enjoyable and satisfying. This badge of achievement gives you more authority to give tips and feedback to other players and even the developers.
With your achievements, you can earn trading cards. Now this is really exciting, as you can sell them to get credit in your Steam wallet. And voilà! Use this credit to buy more Steam games for PC or other content on the platform.
For developers:
As mentioned above, you can get feedback from players who have played your games and make improvements. Being part of a large community gives you access to information like gamers’ preferences, trending games, their desired features, and a whole lot more.
For gamers:
Are you a whiz at tweaking PC games to create unique gameplay, or have you dreamed of it? Well then, you will love Steam Workshop. You can upload your own mods or download the ones available there. Game mods are not simple; in fact, it can get a bit chaotic for newbies. Moreover, you may end up downloading unoptimized mods from mod creators who don’t always have the best intentions.
Thanks to the Steam Workshop, you can avoid all those pitfalls. Available mods are ranked according to gamer popularity and number of downloads. Mod integration into Steam games for PC is super-smooth, meaning you don’t need to tinker with game files. You can also discuss mods, and give and take advice in the community forums.
For developers:
You can use the Workshop feature to discuss with players and upload mods they would want in games. Two-way communication will help you enhance your games to increase their popularity and sales.
As one of the leading computer game companies, Juego Studios has the skills, resources, experience, and technical chops to develop immersive PC games that will capture gamers’ imagination. Our dedicated team of designers and developers will go over every requirement meticulously, and breathe life into your ideas, serving up an exciting game guaranteed to be a keeper.
The Valve Corporation has big plans in store for Steam, and we can expect huge changes that make the platform even more popular. A mobile chat app is one of the updates hinted at.
Steam users are growing by the day, and thousands of games are added every year. If you’re not leveraging this powerful platform already, you are missing out on a very lucrative source of continuous and substantial income. Contact our game studio to start working on your Steam game for PC.
Steam introduced digital distribution of games, eliminating the need for having physical copies. By allowing players to save files and download the same Steam games for PC on multiple devices, it enabled them to continue playing on any device at any location.
Some games are free to play; some are freemium, where you get access to limited features, and some are freely available for a specific period or up to a certain level. You need to pay to continue playing. You can purchase games using credit cards or Steam wallet.
Developers have to pay Steam 30% of their sales, and keep the rest 70%. When the game is sold at a discounted rate, developers receive a greater portion of the revenue from such sales.
Are you running out of steam trying to distribute and/or monetize games you have developed? Do you feel like letting off steam when playing games because updates are slow, or you are not able to play with your friends? Well, it may be time for you to try Steam!
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