Steam's Big Picture mode makes it easy to play computer games in the lounge. Photo: AFP
Clark noted that 500,000 users were
opting to use Steam's new Big Picture mode, which is designed for TVs and gamepads rather than smaller monitors and mouse-keyboard setups, reported PCGamesN.
For comparison, the Xbox 360 service Xbox Live had 40 million subscribers in January 2012; the PlayStation Network had 90 million free accounts by March 2012; Steam's direct competitor Origin, run by Electronic Arts, was launched June 2011, and had accrued 9 million installations by February 2012 and 30 million registered users by October.
Meanwhile, the Windows and Mac-friendly Steam itself continued its current expansion onto Linux machines, inviting a further 5,000 users to participate in pre-release testing; Gabe Newell, MD of Steam's parent company Valve, has spoken out against Windows 8 and was recently confirmed for the games industry DICE Summit keynote in February 2013.