Valve has been doing big things since its inception, creating essential, iconic games and developing a necessary social network for gamers.
But Gabe Newell and company have really ramped it up lately, particularly in the past week. First there was the announcement at the VGA’s that Newell was really trying to compete with the next gen consoles with Steam-optimized living room PCs. On Wednesday, Valve rolled out Steam Community Market.
They say “go big or go home,” and Valve is taking it to heart.
Steam Community Market allows users to buy and sell items using real money, developing a player-driven economy. This builds upon the existing option of trading items for other items, adding a lucrative new avenue for Steam. Steam-based trades are too massive for the company to ignore.
From Valve software engineer Tony Paloma:
With over half a million trades made every week, the trading system has been very successful. Extending game economies beyond trades and giving players a way to turn gameplay into funds for new items and games is a key component for moving that success forward.”
With this new system, both Valve and game publishers can benefit monetarily from the wheelings and dealings between users. Valve takes 15% off the top for each item sold, and publishers will be able to assess their own fees.
For the time being, the Steam Community Market is only available for consumable items on Team Fortress 2. Of course, this will expand to other Steam releases in due time, as the Market moves out of beta.
Get familiar with the new Steam Community Market by reading the FAQ. It will explain TF2’s publisher fees, what items are eligible for posting, who is eligible to participate in the first place, and more.
Source: Steam Community Market via Kotaku
Source: Team Fortress 2
