From mod to revolution

From a mod to one of the most important projects that undoubtedly played a significant role in shaping the gaming market. That's how one could begin a certain story of a project that every gamer is well aware of.

Which project am I talking about? ... obviously about Steam, but why would I want to write about it since everyone knows what Steam is and probably many are familiar with its history.

Primarily because history likes to take turns and often repeats itself.

Participating in numerous panels, I hear from many mouths that they are creating a new Steam, a web3 Steam. It's natural and, frankly speaking, well-diagnosed that on the newly emerging gaming market, many of us see the need to create a project as significant as Steam has been for over 20 years.

Many of us feel that good titles alone are not enough for our market to develop; there is also a need for a foundation that will support and build connections between them and the players. A foundation that allows game creators to forget about the difficulties of technology and provides space to turn their childhood fantasies into amazing games.

Yes, despite AI and the capabilities of generic creation, technology is not getting easier but rather can pose ever greater barriers for both the creator and the player.

But let's return to the story because I would like to leave it here so that maybe I can return to it in some time and check if it has repeated itself.

It's 1996, Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, who left Microsoft, establish the development studio Valve Corporation which just two years later releases its first title "Half-Life".

This FPS with elements of an adventure game quickly gained recognition, becoming one of the milestones in history, among other things, because it was the first to open up to other Creators, giving them the opportunity to create their own mods. Sound familiar...?

This opportunity was not missed by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe who in 1999 released one of the best mods titled Counter-Strike.

The rapidly growing community attracts the attention of Valve, leading to the joint release of Counter-Strike as an independent title.

Well, as far as history goes, like many others at that time, the already quite large studio Valve takes over talented creators and jointly develops the title.

However, this is just the beginning of the revolution they started by noticing that although the power is in the title and the growing community, the real revolution is in the need to change the way of distribution.

Thus Steam was created, a platform whose goal was to facilitate game distribution but also to protect against cheating. Today, VAC is also an inspiration for many projects that have their ideas for combating cheating in games, especially those in esports.

Actually, I could end this post by showing that the key for me and the biggest inspiration was understanding that the revolution is in the distribution method.

It was then and is today on the newly emerging web3 gaming market, supported by the incomprehensible blockchain technology and NFTs disliked by traditional game creators.

However, I would like to draw your attention to one particular detail of this story, which is full of various inspirations.

Minh and Jess not only saw an opportunity to build a mod but went much further and created an internal economy in a category where, until then, the focus of players was only on plain shooting.

I know, today this is no surprise, but back then, this model widely opened the door to a vast scenario of interactions, and competition leading to what we so often talk about today, monetization, not of the creator but of the player.

So, how does our reality differ from theirs? That today we can extend this economy and monetization to very broad waters beyond the game and give players unlimited space to develop it. Give them ownership, and this is not a catchphrase!

Yes, I know I've simplified this story quite a bit, and surely some of you will say that I've taken out of context what interested me the most, but that's exactly what being inspired by history, especially the history of success, looks like.

Can the same success be replicated today in the same way?

I think not because Steam is already here and has filled the space that was lacking back then.

Can Steam be an inspiration?

Undoubtedly, it can and is, but one has to look at this story from the perspective of our reality.

I leave this text to show my view of the story and encourage you to follow how together with a group of amazing people we are creating our own. Maybe it will also be an inspiration for someone someday.