Steam is an Internet-based
digital distribution platform developed by
Valve Corporation offering
digital rights management (DRM),
multiplayer, and
social networking. Steam provides the user with installation and automatic updating of games on multiple computers, and community features such as friends lists and groups,
cloud saving, and in-game voice and chat functionality. The software provides a freely available
application programming interface (API) called Steamworks, which developers can use to integrate many of Steam's functions into their products, including networking, matchmaking, in-game achievements,
micro-transactions, and support for user-created content through Steam Workshop.