Summary
In observance of the 20th anniversary ofSteam, Valve celebrated the occasion with a sale on some of the platform’s best titles over the years. In addition to the sale,Steamalso changed its storefront’s home page to look straight out of 2003 with a green background, yellow buttons, and a brief overview of what happened on and off the platform during each year observed.
Just two days before Valve kicked off the anniversary promotion, a select number ofSteam users earned 20 Years of Service badgesfor being among the first to use Valve’s client. In 2003, Steam was the client used to launchCounter-Strikelong before it became the ubiquitous PC gaming storefront it is today. Since then, Steam has traded its green backgrounds for blue motifs and has launched products such as the Steam Deck and the Valve Index VR headset and controllers. To observe the occasion, Valve took users on a trip down memory lane with a special web page and a sale on some featured titles.
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From now until Tuesday, September 19, the Steam 20th Anniversary Sale will feature deep discounts on all of Valve’s titles and some of the top-selling Steam games from 2003 to 2023. Among Valve’s titles that got major discounts isHalf-Life 2, which hada remaster revealed during Gamescom 2023. The sale bringsHalf-Life 2, along with the Episode One and Episode Two DLCs, to $0.99 each. In addition, titles from theCounter-Strike,Portal, andLeft 4 Deadseries are available for 99 cents apiece.
In addition to Valve’s titles, games such asResident Evil: Village,Valheim, andMass Effect: Legendary Editionwerediscounted to under $20 each. This gives PC gamers who have been waiting to pick up some of these bestsellers a chance to do so and save some money. In addition to the discounts, Steam’s special site dedicated to the service’s 20th anniversary mentioned which games sold well on the platform in their respective release years, and referenced moments in popular culture that happened in each year, from the launch of the first generation of iPhones to the COVID-19 pandemic. Steam also released a short YouTube video to thank users for 20 years of continued support. On YouTube, Steam users sent their thanks in response, and some users shared memories of their time with the platform.
FromStarfieldtoSkyrimand beyond, Steam continues to be the top platform for PC gamers globally. It remains to be seen what Valve will do with the service in the years to come.
