Valve had originally planned a subscription model for the platform, which would have included access to the company’s own games.
Sometimes things work out for the better. Take Steam, for example – in a parallel universe, the platform costs perhaps 10 euros a month. That was Valve’s original plan many years ago. But things turned out very differently, mainly due to loud protests.Why Steam should have a fee
A quick trip back in time to 2003: Valve released its digital platform in September of that year. Back then, it was far from foreseeable that Steam would become the world’s number one popular game launcher – it was still the era of CDs and DVDs.
A screenshot recently surfaced on Reddit showing that Valve had actually planned a subscription model (optional according to Gabe Newell)
TIL Valve’s $9.95 Monthly Steam Plan Almost Happened But Stopped After Significant Backlash
byu/Stannis_Loyalist inSteam
For 10 US dollars a month, users would have access to Half-Life 2, all other future Half-Life projects and in-house games such as Team Fortress 2. This was supposed to give them “a better deal because [Valve] has gotten pretty good at creating a lot of content.” An old article at gamesindustry.biz.
confirms that these were indeed genuine Valve plans.
A fairly new idea at the time – a conceived predecessor to Game Pass, so to speak, but with a much smaller game library. The announcement was not well received by potential users – Steam was often criticized at the time anyway, and the platform was nowhere near as established as it is today. So Valve rowed back, and Steam developed into a free launch platform and store that is now an integral part of PC gaming.
Later on, Valve repeatedly came up with new ideas on how to introduce other payment models – such as an initiative in 2015 to sell Skyrim mods. However, nothing permanent came of this – also due to massive resistance and protests from users.
Today, subscription models are widely accepted, whether for streaming or games. However, a subscription model for Steam is not in sight.
Steam has changed quite a bit over the last 22 years. Do you remember Steam Greenlight? Or what your game library looked like before the redesign in October 2019? That was almost 6 years ago. Sorry. If you want to distract yourself from the relentless passing of time, we have plenty of exciting articles for you!
