Steam

Steam is a digital distribution platform introduced by Valve on September 12, 2003, allowing anyone to download games and updates. What makes Steam different than most other digital distributed platforms is that it allows both large and small game developers to sell their games. Steam supports mods, has a community of several million other players, and offers many free games. On December 11, 2024, Steam announced it had 39.2 million players playing games at the same time.

Do I own the games I purchase on Steam?

The games you buy on Steam are linked to your Steam account. When you die, if someone has access to your Steam account they could still access your games. However, if they don't have the information to access your account, all games you've purchased are lost. Also, because the games you purchased are linked to your account, you cannot resell your games or give your games to another account. Like all other streaming services, the digital content you buy is not owned by you.

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