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What exactly is Steam? Isn't it DRM?

What can I do with it?

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Don't ask Good or Bad, that's a subjective question. maybe edit it to talk about DRM and the pros cons of that. makes it a bit more palatable. – shsteimer Jul 15 '10 at 14:06
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suggestions taken. – Raven Dreamer♦ Jul 15 '10 at 14:19
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For me the most important definition is "That thing that lets me buy awesome PC games on sale for $5-$10 only 6-18 months after they're released". Mass Effect and Orange Box for $10. Bioshock for $5. Automatic updates, social/network play, I own it forever (can't "lose the CD") are just bonuses. – MGOwen Oct 27 '10 at 2:39
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@IlariKajaste I'm going to disagee with you there. You don't own the game if you receive it on a disk either. All you're buying is a licence to play it. – user56 May 5 '11 at 20:28
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@IlariKajaste Not technically. You can both own a game you own on Steam on a disk, and Valve can't prevent you from playing it if you use it in offline mode. – user56 May 9 '11 at 16:24
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5 Answers

up vote 35 down vote accepted

Steam is DRM. Steam is also DRM done right.

When you "own" a game through the service, you (normally) get to install it on all of your computers for no additional fee. No questions asked. No licenses. No CD keys. Zero click installs.

Steam does many offers and offers a number of free demos. Steam also brings an actually useful in-game overlay (which, e.g., even lets you open youtube or this site without tabbing out!). Steam finally has important social features like notifying that your friend has joined a game (and for supported games, you get a link to one-click join him). etc.

Mind you, Steam does have some points where it doesn't shine. My main pet peeve is offline gaming does not work if the Steam client thinks there is an update it should download and install; typically you only find out when it's too late. A second point where Steam is less than great is that you need to own a non-free game to enable most of the social features, and they are a large part of the appeal.

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One which which I really like about Steam is that I can download my games to any number of systems, any number of times. – Sathya Jul 15 '10 at 14:08
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However, it is important to note that you never actually "own" any game you bought via steam (or any other download service). You merly obtain the right to install and play as a service. If Steam will be shut down one day (say, e.g., an asteroid hits Steam headquarters) you won't have any right to continue installing and playing. This is a major difference towards actually owning a gaming cd/dvd you bought in a store. – MRA Jul 15 '10 at 14:15
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@MRA - true, but if you read the license agreement that comes with all software (not just games) you'll probably find that you don't own that either. Licensing to use is a standard software model these days. – ChrisF Jul 15 '10 at 14:20
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On the other hand, if you actually lose your gaming cd/dvd, or it becomes unreadable, you also have no more rights to continue installing the game... Yes, however -- as for every other "cloud" service, shut down is indeed a problem. – badp♦ Jul 15 '10 at 14:20
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@ChrisF: While you do not own the software (that is, as intelectual property or as copyright), you do in fact own the data device and, hence, your right to install and use the software cannot be revoked in the future. Also, you are allowed to sell the data device, and the right of using the software carries on to the buyer. Both is not true for downloaded software. (This is the situation in the EU. I wish I could give a source to this which is in English, but I only have one in German: gamestar.de/specials/reports/2316040/…) – MRA Jul 15 '10 at 17:26
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up vote 25 down vote

It's a distribution system. It allows you to buy games once and then play them on any computer. It also keeps your games up-to-date without having to hunt for patches.

It also has a great community feature which allows you to socialise with friends even while playing, meet up with them and see what games they play.

To answer your other question, it can be a form of DRM, but it doesn't impede you in any way. You can put Steam in offline mode and you will be able to continue playing.

For more information, see its Wikipedia page or the official site.

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You forgot the most important part. They keep track of your games for you, so you don't have to keep them on your computer if you don't want to. Also, they have a built-in kill-switch which means that they can remotely strip DRM if they ever go out of business. – Mechko Jul 16 '10 at 0:53
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Where did you get this information? I can keep my games all on a PC not connected to Steam and play my games for eternity. – user56 Jul 16 '10 at 12:45
up vote 0 down vote

Steam is a PITA when you want to play games over a lan without an internet connection.

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Updating Steam... – badp♦ Jul 15 '10 at 20:50
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Depends on whether the client is running at the time. Offline mode has never given me trouble before. – user56 Jul 17 '10 at 10:08
some games disable all multiplayer in offline mode eg. supcom2 – JamesRyan Jul 17 '10 at 19:41
They don't disable it per se, you disabled the system it uses for multiplayer. – user56 Jul 18 '10 at 10:24
up vote -2 down vote

Steam is basically an online delivery system and market place for Valve Games. Good or Bad is very subjective, so I'm not going to speak to that, but I'll say that I think it's a cool idea because it makes managing the titles you own easier.

It's also probably good for Valve since it makes it easier for consumers to buy, hence more revenue.

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Patently wrong answer, who upvoted? O_o – Lohoris May 5 '11 at 20:25
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@Lo'oris - Yeah, this might have been the case for the first year or two when the only thing of substance on Steam was Half-Life 2, but no longer the case. – Shinrai May 5 '11 at 21:19
up vote -2 down vote

On steam, you can buy games (mostly Valve) and store them there. There are demos, dedicated servers and etc. It's easy for finding your games.

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Mostly Valve would've been true a couple years ago. Now Valve's games make up a small portion of the Steam catalogue. – user56 Jul 17 '10 at 10:08

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