In 2003, Valve quietly launched a piece of software that almost nobody noticed, and that same software would go on to define modern PC gaming. This week, David Kassin and guest host David Seley trace how Steam grew out of Valve's frustration with patching Counter-Strike, why the company got turned down everywhere it went looking for help, and how a disastrous Half-Life 2 launch nearly sank the platform before it had a real chance to prove itself. Along the way, we look at the slow years of third party developers taking a chance on Steam, the rise of Steamworks, the messy road through Greenlight and Steam Direct, and the ongoing legal fights over just how much control one platform should have over an entire industry. Join us as we look at how big Steam has actually gotten in 2026, and ask whether the thing gamers once rebelled against has simply become the thing nobody can escape, on today's trip down Memory Card Lane.

Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/a-trip-down-memory-card-lane/26cb8822-ae64-43a4-b634-9328fb0b0d05

Read transcript

Rss
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör David Kassin and Robert Kassin. Innehållet i podden är skapat av David Kassin and Robert Kassin och inte av, eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.