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It might seem Steam has been around forever, but it just turned 20 on September 12. To celebrate, the team took a walk down memory lane and recalled all the pivotal games that made the platform flourish.
The list goes on accompanied by global facts, which are not connected to games but might make you nostalgic, and amazing illustrations.
Image credit: Valve
It all started in 2003. MySpace launched but would not stay on top as long as Steam does. Valve used its platform to deliver game updates, and that's it for Steam that year.
It changed in 2004 though, when the company released the first game there – Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, followed by Half-Life 2. The same year, Codename: Gordon, a side-scroller puzzle game by Nuclearvision Entertainment, became the first third-party game on Steam. Unfortunately, it was taken down soon, but what an achievement!
Image credit: Valve
Next year, we got Rag Doll Kung Fu to be the first official third-party game. Oh, and YouTube made its debut. For quite some time, Half-Life remained a frequent appearance on Steam, with its Episodes and spin-offs distributed on the platform.
Then Portal and Team Fortress 2 arrived together with Steam's first sale in 2007. It's also Netflix's birthday. 2008 was met with Left 4 Dead, Steamworks, and Steam Cloud.
Image credit: Respawn
Steam kept growing and developing for years, introducing Steam Workshop in 2011 and Steam Community in 2012. Through the years, crucial games like Dota 2, Stardew Valley, and Fallout graced the service's pages.
Counter-Strike 2 is the latest project from Valve on Steam, released in beta this year. 2023 is a generous period for games, with Starfield, Baldur's Gate 3, the Resident Evil 4 remake, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and many other titles emerging.
To make the celebration more exciting, Valve is offering some free stuff in the Points Shop. Check it all out here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.