Steam expanding digital library with non-games

Valve is to expand is enormous library of titles with non-games next month, it has revealed.

Starting from September 5th, the hugely successful digital storefront will begin selling "creativity and productivity" software.

Valve said it took the decision to expand the service to take advantage of popular Steamworks features such as easy installation, automatic updating and the ability to save work to your personal Steam Cloud space.

It also said it was bringing in non-games in response to customer feedback clamouring for differing content.

Developers using the service will also be able to submit their own software for user approval through Valve’s new Steam Greenlight service.

"The 40 million gamers frequenting Steam are interested in more than playing games," said Valve’s Mark Richardson.

"They have told us they would like to have more of their software on Steam, so this expansion is in response to those customer requests."

Valve’s decision to add non-gaming software could have huge ramifications for the service, which already has more than 40m registered users, much higher than its competitors such as Origin.

Adding net content would also bring it closer in line with the likes of Apple’s App Store, although Valve’s approval process for Steam is known to be much more stringent.