Valve announced on Tuesday its “Software” section for non-gaming applications available on its Steam platform is now open for business, just under one month after the company missed its original September 5th launch date. Moving beyond offering digital PC games, Steam’s new software offerings provide another app store for consumers to buy software from. But unlike Apple’s (AAPL) hugely successful Mac App Store, software on Steam can be tweaked to have 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.” Valve’s press release follows below.
STEAM LAUNCHES BEYOND GAMES
Launch Set of “Software” Titles Available Now
Oct 2, 2012 — Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the first Software titles have launched via Steam, marking a major expansion to the platform known as a leading destination for PC and Mac games.
The Software titles now available via Steam are:
ArtRage Studio Pro
CameraBag 2
GameMaker: Studio
3D-Coat
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11Many 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.
GameMaker Studio, for example, features integration with Steam Workshop that allows GameMaker users to share their work via Steam.
To celebrate the launch, all Software titles on Steam will be available for 10% off their regular price throughout the week.
For more information, please visit http://store.steampowered.com/software
