It’s been almost 20 years since the launch of Valve Corporation’s Steam platform, and yet it remains the number one PC gaming platform. Steam’s compatibility with numerous systems could be part of the reason for its success. A recent experience by a YouTuber, nicl83, has revealed just how far Steam’s compatibility can go.
Nicl83 still had his Half-Life 2 game disk, the first game to require Steam installation. He wanted to see if it was possible to update the platform almost 20 years after its release. He tried to install Steam on Windows XP, but the installation failed, with a message stating “Steam is temporarily unavailable.”
After restarting his computer, he discovered that the computer was still communicating with Steam and suggested a more recent version. However, it was not the latest one. Nicl83 then switched to Windows 7 to continue the installation process.
It was a long process to install all the updates, but to his surprise, the latest version of Steam was successfully installed. Many users were nostalgic about the old interface of Steam and appreciated Valve’s foresight and intelligence.
Valve’s decision to make their update system adaptable was impressive and forward-thinking. Even an old version of Steam, over 15 years old, can still be updated and catch up with the latest version.
Although it’s unclear if nicl83 was able to play Half-Life 2, it’s likely that the sequel to the best game of all time has aged just as well as its predecessor.
Valve Corporation’s Steam platform has remained the leading PC gaming platform for almost 20 years, in part thanks to its compatibility with numerous systems. A YouTuber recently tested the compatibility of Steam with a 20-year-old game, and to their surprise, Steam was able to update to the latest version successfully. Valve’s foresight and intelligence have been praised by users, showing that even an old version of Steam can catch up with the latest version.