
But it has sometimes remained tricky to stay up on the latest gaming news. Thanks to auto-updating, Steam has for a long time made it easy to keep up to date with the latest versions of your games. On each game's store page, see who among your friends plays it, and whether it's on anyone's wishlist. So on the store homepage, there's a new listing of what your friends have bought or played lately. Before you've even bought a game, knowing whether your friends play it is one of the most useful pieces of information to have. Right from within your own game Library, you can now track which of your friends plays each game or invite them to play one with you. The new Steam puts far more friend-related info at your fingertips. But Steam users have rightly come to expect more than a simple social network alongside their games.

Since its introduction in 2003, Steam has been centered around social gaming.

If you don't have Steam installed, download it today. If you haven't already updated, you can use the "Check for Steam client updates" option on the "File" menu to automatically update Steam to the new release. The new Steam UI is here, which enhances the way you already buy and play games, adding more info about the things that matter - getting games, playing them with friends, and staying current in the gaming world.
