Steam starts selling software

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After Valve added new categories ranging from creativity to productivity earlier they have officially started to sell non-game software for the Windows platform. After the reviewing process, apps can be purchased and users can choose where they will install them in the latest Steam beta. Valve has all rights to provide certain discounts if they think it will be good for customers and developers. The developers won’t get their standard 70% cut of the sales, but instead revenue will depend on volume, price and other factors. So it is up to Valve to take care of that, and so far no developers have argued about this.

There are not many titles in the software section on Steam just yet, but it will probably increase over time. There are some graphic and benchmark applications like 3D-Coat, GameMaker: Studio, 3Dmark Vantage etc. If Valve continues its usual process of accepting new software like they do with games, it will certainly become filled with new titles very soon. From the apps they have so far it's possible that they won’t have cheap, single purpose apps, but free apps will be supported nevertheless. They will be listed under new releases along with games, but if you want to see them clearly you can check only applications under the “software” tab.
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Steam has a 5 million daily active user base and the software industry could surely benefit from this collaboration. Some of the currently available software is integrated into Steamworks, for example 3D Coat allows users to create 3D models and port them directly into Team Fortress 2. Also GameMaker: Studio allows game creators to upload their game to Steam and get feedback from other gamers that will help a lot with free games, especially in case when you're lost in the internet searching for the latest update of the game you want to play. Until the end of the week all products from the “software” category are discounted 10% so be sure to grab what you need before the discount wears off.

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