14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer and Steam creator, Valve has announced that it will introduce a new service called Steam Guard, which is specifically designed to limit hijacking of accounts on its digital distribution platform by making sure that just an authorized computer can make changes to an account.
The new Steam Guard is designed to work with the Identity Protection Technology that Intel is introducing on its 2nd generation Intel CoreT and Intel CoreT vProT processors.
The technology produces a set of numerical passwords that can be linked to a Steam account, making only that computer able to change important settings.
Gabe Newell, who is the president of Valve and one of its main public voices, has said, “Account phishing and hijacking are our #1 support issues. With Intel's IPT and Steam Guard, we've taken a big step towards giving customers the account security they need as they purchase more and more digital goods.”
There are more than 30 million active accounts on Steam at the moment, and the number is all the more impressive when considering that the service only launches in 2003 as a way for the company to deliver quick updates to its own games.
It's not clear how many Steam accounts are being affected by hijacking and by identity theft, but the main motive for the Steam move is to create a feeling of security among users, which in turn can lead to them buying up even more digital goods.
Steam is very important to the PC gaming market, which has seen a decrease in number of physical sales in the last few years, as it allows players to pick up new games without going to a brick-and-mortar store, and it regularly runs promotions for older titles that allow enthusiasts to get those classic games they have never played.