Valve adds non-gaming content to Steam platform

Gaming addicts using Valve's Steam platform may soon have to give way to new users who are not quite into computer games.

 

Valve said it is expanding its Steam platform to offer non-gaming software, according to a report on tech site PC Magazine.

 

The non-gaming features "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," PC World quoted Valve as saying.

 

It quoted Valve's Mark Richardson as saying some 40 million gamers frequenting Steam "are interested in more than playing games."

 

"They have told us they would like to have more of their software on Steam, so this expansion is in response to those customer requests," he said.

 

Visitors to Steam may start availing of the non-gaming features starting September 5, though Valve did not reveal its non-gaming offerings, PC Mag said.

 

On the other hand, developers will be welcome to submit software via Steam Greenlight, which lets users vote on the titles they most want to see released by Steam.

 

Last month, Valve confirmed it is building a Linux version of Steam, with Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) as the platform's first game.

 

"The goal of the Steam client project is a fully-featured Steam client running on Ubuntu 12.04," the Valve Linux team wrote at the time.

 

PC Mag quoted Valve head Gabe Newell as saying Valve was inspired to pursue Linux because Windows 8 is going to be "a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space." — TJD, GMA News