Steam

Steam

Basic Information
Release Year	2003
Product Type	Digital storefront, Video games
In Production	Yes
Official Website	https://store.steampowered.com

Steam is a digital storefront and service for video-game distribution, operated by Valve Corporation. Launched in 2003, it has grown to become the largest digital-distribution platform for PC gaming, with over 130 million monthly active users as of 2024 as well as having an operating system centered primarily around it's digital storefront called SteamOS. The platform offers services for digital rights management (DRM), server hosting, video streaming, and social networking.

Consumer impact summary

Privacy

• Collects extensive personal data, including e-mail, location, payment details, and device information
• Records and stores all user communications through platform features
• Keeps specific user data indefinitely for "gameplay consistency" even after account deletion
• Tracks gaming behavior, including preferences, progress, playtime, and device usage
• Shares user data with game developers and third-party service providers
• Makes user profile data publicly available through Steamworks API
• Uses cookies and similar technologies for tracking across websites
• Retains transaction data for up to 10 years after account closure

Freedom

• Users do not own purchased games; they only receive limited licenses. Although some games work without DRM, information about this is hidden to users.
• Can terminate access to paid content at Valve's discretion
• No right to transfer or resell purchased games
• Imposes regional restrictions on game activation and playing via IP address geo-location
• Can unilaterally modify terms with 30-day notice
• Mandatory client updates (sometimes over 100MB)^{[citation needed - Personal account]} required to launch Steam & access library
• Users must accept all changes to maintain access to purchased content
• No option to opt out of core data collection while using the service
• Steam can prevents users with non steam copies of games from downloading certain workshop mods making people forced to only buy games on steam^{[citation needed - Personal account]}

Transparency

• Provides a clear refund policy for games (any game played for less than 2 hours within 14 days)
• It will mainly reference instances where the product prevents inspection or is intentionally confusing.
• Maintains detailed system requirements information for all games (developer-submitted)
• Offers a comprehensive privacy policy in an accessible language
• Unclear processes for account termination and data removal
• Limited transparency about content moderation decisions
• Vague about specific data retention time-frames
• No clear disclosure of recommendation algorithm factors

Business model

Steam makes money from every purchase of games on the platform, with 30% of the sale going to them.

Steam also offers a community market where players can buy and sell different types of items, like in-game skins or trading cards, for a fee of 5% (with a minimum fee of $0.01). Any profits made from the market are added to the user's Steam Wallet and can't be withdrawn. This serves as another essential source of revenue for Steam.

Market control

As of 2021, Steam has over 132 million players utilizing the service.

Incidents

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Steam category.

Customer database hack (2011)

In October 2011, Valve temporarily closed the Steam Community forums following security-breach concerns. The company later confirmed that hackers had compromised one of its customer databases. The compromised database contained user information, including encrypted credit card numbers, billing addresses, purchase histories, e-mail addresses, and encrypted passwords for Steam accounts.

At the time of disclosure, Valve stated they had no evidence that the encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information (PII) had been taken, nor was there evidence that the encryption on the credit card numbers or passwords had been cracked. Nevertheless, they advised users to monitor their credit card activity and statements as a precautionary measure.

Antitrust ruling: Geo-blocking (2021)

On 20 January 2021, the European Commission fined Valve, owner of Steam, €1.6 million for breaching EU anti-trust rules by engaging in geo-blocking practices through Steam within the European Economic Area (EEA). Five PC video game publishers have also been fined for engaging with Valve through Steam in geo-blocking practices by "requesting Valve to set up geographical restrictions and to provide geo-blocked Steam activation keys"(EU Commission, 2021). The fines for the publishers were reduced due to the cooperation of the five publishers with the Commission. Valve did not cooperate with the Commission.

Modification to Terms of Service (2024)

Main article: Valve removes arbitration requirement from Steam Subscriber Agreement

In September 2024, Steam implemented significant changes to its subscriber agreement that altered user rights and game-ownership terms. Additionally, it removed forced arbitration from the Steam Subscriber Agreement. Key changes included:

• Enhanced ability to terminate accounts for violations
• Additional data collection and sharing provisions
• Modified dispute resolution procedures

Valve allows ISPs and payment processors to censor content on Steam (2025)

Main article: Valve allows ISPs and payment processors to censor content on Steam

In an update for Steam's Rules and Guidelines for developers, a new rule was added within the section detailing what content cannot be included on Steam:

15. Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors, related card networks, banks, or internet network providers. In particular, certain kinds of adult-only content are used.

This addition was made with pressure from payment processors such as Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal. Most, if not all, content taken down from the platform was adult in nature however, allowing both payment processors and ISPs to judge whether or not content on the platform can be taken down puts consumer choice at risk. Reportedly, Japanese developers creating "adult-oriented" games were also refused payment via their banks just after this rule change.

In addition, game developers and consumers have noticed that some content was removed or de-listed despite not being 18+ while having LGBT tags or themes.

See also

• itch.io