PC Gamer Rolls Out a Digital Beta on Steam

Further proving that Valve is planning for its Steam platform to be all things to PC gamers, it almost seems appropriate to learn that gaming magazines might be a big part of its future. Late last week, PC Gamer unveiled its “PC Gamer Digital” beta, to give gamers a taste of what’s to come, and also work out whatever bugs might be lingering.

Upon first learning of the magazine on Steam, I had jumped to conclusions and assumed it’d be little more than just a PDF version of the print edition, but alas, I was wrong. Instead, PC Gamer Digital is meant to be an interactive experience, allowing viewers to watch trailers, interviews, how-tos and so on, and at the same time discuss with others in a chat box their opinions.

This edition of the magazine might also carry the print magazine content, but it doesn’t seem to be mentioned anywhere. Not surprisingly, pricing is also something that’s not been confirmed, but if it features all the print magazine content, it’s likely to cost about the same as that edition.

This isn’t meant to sound like an ad for PC Gamer Digital, because I’m indifferent to the publication. What I find interesting about its release is, is that we can get a clearer idea of what Valve hopes to see Steam become. We’ve seen game guides available for some time, and most recently, even a game soundtrack was made available on its own. What’s next? Other magazines? Game books? Game-related movies?

Perhaps we’ll even see Steam begin to sell real-world game-related items, like dolls (ahem, action figures) or other merchandise that usually isn’t that visible to most gamer eyes. It’s all speculation at this point, but with what Steam has been offering as of late, anything seems to be possible.

Thanks to Kayden for the heads-up on this!