Bitcoin Payments Officially Announced for Steam

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Bitcoin Payments Officially Announced for Steam

Bitpay, a company that specializes in processing payments made in Bitcoin, is announcing that it is integrating its technology into the Steam digital distribution systems to make sure that operations that use the virtual currency are available for gamers all over the world to get access to their favorite titles.

The official announcement states, "Valve reached out to us because they were looking for a fast, international payment method for Steam users in emerging gaming markets in countries like India, China, and Brazil. While more users are coming online in these countries, traditional payment options like credit cards often aren't available."

It's unclear whether the use of Bitcoin will be enabled at the same time for all markets that Steam serves or whether the two involved companies will opt for a more cautious approach to make sure that they eliminate any possible kinks from their system.

Valve has been talking with developers about more payment options recently and will probably soon make its own official announcement.

Bitpay also describes Bitcoin as the Internet's universal currency and says that those who use it to pay for video games will be able to avoid high fees and the frauds that often affect those who traditionally rely on credit cards.

Any type of wallet can be used to scan and pay on Steam, and those who do so will not be asked to use any other financial details.

Bitcoin might be integrated with other platforms in the future
Bitpay explains that it might work with other companies, and the likes of Origin or GOG might also decide to offer support for the virtual currency in the coming months to make sure that they represent a solid alternative to Steam.

Given that Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are far more conservative companies, it is unlikely that support for Bitcoin payment will soon be announced and implemented on the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4, the Wii U or the coming NX.

Valve has been recently focusing on increasing the security of the Steam digital distribution service in order to make sure that it becomes very hard for the details associated with an account to be accessed by outside parties, with an app authorization now used even when trading or selling cards.

The studio has also been busy with the launch of the Vive virtual reality platform, which it created in collaboration with HTC, and has also brought some movies to its service via a new Lionsgate partnership.