Gameplay Statistics on Steam

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  <a href="http://steampowered.com/"><img src="/space/steam_logo.jpg" /></a>
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I love [Valve](http://www.valvesoftware.com/)'s online game platform
[Steam](http://www.steampowered.com/). If you're not familiar with it, Steam is
basically [iTunes](http://www.apple.com/itunes/) for PC games. You can download
demos and trailers, buy full retail games, and play them with friends. It now
carries over 250 games, both big budget and indie, from publishers as big as
[Activision](http://activision.com/), [Ubisoft](http://ubi.com/), and
[Eidos](http://eidos.com/).

Valve has been surveying their players'
[hardware](http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html) and
[gameplay](http://www.steampowered.com/stats/ep1/) for a while now, mostly
for market research. After playing
[Team Fortress 2](http://orange.half-life2.com/tf2.html) recently, though,
I was blown away when I first noticed my own personal
[gameplay statistics](http://steamcommunity.com/id/ryancb/stats/TF2).

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  <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/id/ryancb/stats/TF2">
    <img src="/space/tf2_stats_thumb.jpg" /></a>
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There are lots of detailed metrics - how many points I've scored, how long
I've stayed alive, etc. - all broken down by character class. Each class has
its own individual report. Even better, I can
[compare my stats against other people](/space/tf2_stats_comparison.html)
to see how I match up. (Clearly, I'm whooping Dan's butt. :P)

Obviously, this is cool. I'm even more excited about the possibilities beyond
bragging rights and market research, though. When you die in Team Fortress 2,
for example, it often encourages you with news that you tied or beat a personal
record. More interestingly, Valve has tracked weapon purchasing in
[Counter-Strike: Source](http://storefront.steampowered.com/v2/index.php?area=game&AppId=240&cc=US)
and implemented a
[persistent, global pricing model](http://steampowered.com/stats/csmarket/)
that reflects supply and demand in real time.

Granted, this isn't new. MMOs have been doing it for a long time.
[Bungie](http://bungie.net/) is well known for
[tracking stats in Halo 2 and 3](http://www.bungie.net/help/content.aspx?link=bungienet_help#stats),
for their own benefit and their players'. Still, the depth and polish of Steam's
offering is very impressive.

Anyway, enough talk. See you in
[2fort](http://www.halflife2.net/news//1159589953_1.jpg)!