August 8th, 2012 by Nickie Williams
Valve has announced today that as of September 5th, 2012- the company will begin to branch out into non-gaming software titles available for download. While they have not stated what titles will be available to the general consumer, Valve have stated that they will offer everything from ‘creativity to productivity’.
They continue to add:
“Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, such as easy installation, automatic updating, and the ability to save your work to your personal Steam Cloud space so your files may travel with you. More Software titles will be added in an ongoing fashion following the September 5th launch, and developers will be welcome to submit Software titles via Steam Greenlight.”
Does this mean that we are going to see cut-price versions of big-name software like Adobe Photoshop or Final Cut Pro? Who knows, as Valve seems to be keeping quite a tight lid on it all. I have to wonder what kind of format it will take? Will it be like Steam 2.0 or will it be more like iTunes or XBox Live where the original product they started selling (iTunes with music and XBox Live with games) becomes buried and no longer commands an audience? I hope not. Steam is well-renowned for being at the front of the indie gaming market where most small-budget publishers are free to put their games up for sale and get some kind of a following for them. I just don’t want to see Valve become too greedy a
Game on Girl is a weekly podcast hosted by Regina McMenomy and Rhonda Oglesby. New episodes premiere every Thursday. We interview gamers and discuss games, gaming, and game culture. We also have a regular segment, Games in Pop Culture, where we talk about representations of games and gaming in mainstream media.
