A little over 20 years ago, Valve was getting ready to release a new Half Life game . At the same time, the company was trying to push Steam as a new option for players to download and update games over the Internet. Requiring Steam in order to play Half Life 2 led to plenty of grumbling from players in 2004. But the high profile Steam exclusive helped build an instant user base for Valve fresh distribution system, setting it on a path to eventually become the unquestioned leader in the space....
