It’s hard to imagine today’s gaming landscape without Steam. But in 2005, reactions to the new DRM platform were quite different, as old letters to the editor show.
Whether chatting with friends, discussing topics in forums, or downloading mods—Steam now offers far more features than just being a digital store for games. This is likely why Valve’s platform has become indispensable to the industry. According to recent estimates, Steam dominates a whopping75 percent of the digital gaming market.
However, that wasn’t always the case. When Steam launched in late 2003, the community was initially highly skeptical of the new service. Especially in the beginning, the Steam servers were quite unstable, downloads crawled along at a snail’s pace, and the user interface, with its military-style olive green color scheme, seemed anything but inviting.
For many players, however, the height of audacity wasthe perceivedexpropriation
of their games. Because whenHalf-Life 2was released in 2004, the shooter required a Steam account to play; without which the game could not be launched. Steam was the industry’s first such foray into DRM (Digital Rights Management). Games tied to an account could suddenly no longer be resold.
Unsurprisingly, given these circumstancesSteam was initially quite hated by the PC community. Just how dissatisfied users were with the new service is evidenced by a collection of letters to the editor of PC Gamer magazine from 2005, whichrecently surfaced online
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Users want to vent
Right in the introduction, the editorial team writes that virtually all reader letters are less than enthusiastic—and that’s exactly how it turns out. Dan Sallitt, for example, reports that he ran to his local PC store full of excitement to buy Half-Life 2, only to be met with a bitter disappointment:
I’m disappointed that you didn’t mention one of the game’s major downsides in your review—namely, that Steam is a total pain. Not that I can blame Valve for […] protecting their software, but this is absurd: After 45 minutes of installation, I’m jumping for joy, only to find out that Steam has to validate my game files first. Not just once, but every single time I start the game. What the hell is that about?
– Dan Sallitt
Steam is aptly named, because it makes me steaming mad. What a piece of crap. I buy computer games because I want to play computer games. But with Steam, I have to log in every single time—apparently there’s no offline mode. And every time I do, it takes five minutes before I’m allowed to play. Right now, it’s been validating the Half-Life 2 game files for about 10 minutes. If this is the future of Valve games, I don’t want any part of it.
– Mark Green
I bought Half-Life 2, only to have my hopes dashed two minutes after installation. What do you mean, I have to install this thing called “Steam” and create an account? […] It also seems to want to launch every time I turn on my PC. Excuse me, but that’s still my decision! On the surface, Steam seems like a good idea: I can buy and download games without ever having to go to a store. On the other hand, the platform looks like spyware/bloatware.
– Steamed.
In the Reddit thread, users are reminiscing.TheRealLXC writes, for example:I was there from day one. Today, these letters to the editor seem funny when you consider how big Steam has become. But back then, it wasn’t normal for a game not to be playable immediately after installation.
And Reddit userShasarr adds:People today can’t even understand how ridiculous it was to need a launcher to start a game. Of course, players hated it. That was years before the Games-as-a-Service trend, and you could say Steam definitely played a part in that
. Another user notes that in 2003, a reliable internet connection was still an absolute luxury.
As you can see: over 20 years ago, tempers flared over online copy protection and account binding. Today, however, we’ve largely grown accustomed to purchasing usage rights instead of owning physical copies. In return, however, the user experience on Steam has improved: with faster downloads and constant sales, Valve’s platform has carved out an important place in our gaming lives.
Meanwhile, the industry has learned from Steam’s success: almost all other major publishers have at one time or another tried to establish their own launchers and DRM platforms—and have failed to even come close to competing with Steam.
Even Epic, the second-largest player in the digital gaming market, only manages to capture around 10 percent market share—despite generous game giveaways. However, Steam is just incredibly convenient now.
