Valve Corporation

Twenty-three years ago today, in September 2003, a company we now know as Valve Corporation made its quiet entrance. It wasn't a game launch that marked this particular anniversary, but rather the unveiling of a platform that would reshape how players acquired and experienced their digital worlds: Steam.

WHY IT STILL MATTERS

Before Steam, PC gaming was a different landscape. Acquiring games often meant a trip to a store, a physical box, and a manual. This new venture from Valve, a company already known for beloved titles like Half-Life, aimed to streamline that process, offering a digital distribution service that would eventually become ubiquitous. It was a move that, at the time, might have seemed like a curious side project from a developer primarily focused on making groundbreaking games. The initial rollout was about managing Valve's own game updates, a practical solution for a studio with a dedicated fanbase. Little did anyone know this was the seed of an empire.