Steam, made by Washington- based software developer Valve, is one of the best and most widely used digital distribution and multiplayer platforms available. Steam allows users to purchase, download, organize and update games from one application. Thanks to Steam Cloud, player’s settings are tied to their steam accounts, not their computer; so if you play on a different computer all you have to do is login to your account and all your settings will be there. Users can easily track their stats and achievements, keep tabs on what their friends are playing and even join their friends’ games. But Steam does have a darker side.

While there is no disputing the usefulness of Steam, the application can become overbearing at times.

Some games that require Steam can only be played if there is an active Internet connection available, and every Steam game must be validated online before it can be played. Games are updated when they’re opened, whether the update is wanted or not. Steam may also gather non-personal data from any computer on which it’s installed.

Anyone familiar with EA’s Battlefield franchise, and it’s sometimes rather uncooperative multiplayer, is likely to forgive the shortcomings of Steam if it means being able to play Team Fortress 2 with their friends without spending an hour trying to get everyone on to the same server.

As long as users understand what it will and will not allow them to do, Steam is a very useful application with something very important – stability.