Looks like Valve, a video game developer and publisher, realized that Steam, a digital distribution platform that marketed the sale of specifically video games, isn’t a good place to sell non-video game related videos. In a recently released news message on Steam, the company announced the removal of the video section of the Steam store. After thorough review it seems like Steam realized that video content related to video games sells better than content not related to gaming on a platform known primarily for video game distribution.
Luckily for those who had already purchased any videos or movies on Steam, all purchased videos will continue to stay accessible regardless of the removal of the section. That means everyone who purchased a film on Steam is safe from potentially losing access to what they bought; no need to buy them again on a different platform. This is akin to games that have been removed from Steam still being accessible to those who purchased them, such as Deadpool. While the decision to remove the video section seems like an obvious one all things considered, it’s evident that Steam made an effort to push video streaming considering it’s been years since the video section of Steam first came into fruition.
For a quick history on the video section of Steam, it was introduced in 2015 with the release of documentary film by Devolver Digital. Since then, multiple deals have occurred with Steam attempting to push their video section more and more. Various companies such as Lionsgate and Crunchyroll got in on the action as well, pushing their own films on the section. While the effort seems to have mostly been for nothing now, it isn’t like the video section is gone forever from Steam. As of writing, it’s still currently available to browse and purchase movies as the announcement explicitly stated the removal of the non-gaming content from the section would occur “over the coming weeks.”