Steam, the store and gaming platform that's essentially synonymous with PC gaming, has turned 20. It was on September 12, 2003, that Valve officially opened the doors to the platform that eventually evolved to become the behemoth we know today. The company is celebrating the milestone in several ways, and one of the most noticeable is the return of Steam's iconic green theme.
Anyone heading to the front page of Steam will witness that it has returned to the original color scheme Valve shipped way back then. This may only be a change for today, so enjoy it while you can. The return of the green is sadly restricted to the front page, so store pages and the Steam app's UI remain the modern blue and gray design.
At the same time, Valve has launched a new celebration page that takes Steam users down memory lane, discussing all the changes that the company, its games, the Steam website and its app have gone through since 2003, plus a bit more. The page shows off the biggest game releases of each year as the two decades scroll by as well.
It details how the company launched Steam in 2003 as a way to easily update its games over the internet. The following year saw Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Half-Life 2 debuting on the platform, with Codename: Gordon launching as the first third-party game (delisted now, unfortunately). It was 2007 when Valve hosted its first Steam sale, putting everything up to 50% off for the holidays.
Moving on, 2008 had Steamworks publishing tools for developers and Steam Cloud launching, while 2010 brought Linux and macOS support. Several years later, in 2015 Valve began its hardware ventures with Steam Controller, Steam Link, and Steam Machines, alongside Steam Refunds.
Of course, since then we have seen the debut of Steam Awards, the death of Steam Greenlight, the Proton compatibility layer for running Windows games on Linux, as well as the hardware launches of the Valve Index VR system and the hugely successful Steam Deck.
"We launched Steam on September 12, 2003, with the goal of making it easier for game developers to connect with their audience and for players to find cool games," adds Valve. "In the 20 years since then we’ve learned a ton, adding features and tools, hosting sales and events, and integrating your feedback to grow Steam into what it is today."
"Steam wouldn’t exist without the developers and gamers around the world who come together on the platform, and whose feedback and insights help us make it better. So THANK YOU! And here’s to 20 more."
Lastly, the Steam Points Shop has some free goodies to claim, which include animated stickers, profile backgrounds and an animated avatar, which are all themed around its 20th birthday.
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