Steam, Valve Corporation’s immensely popular online gaming platform, now offers you an easy way to see how much you’ve spent on their distribution service. The “External Funds Used” tool calculates how much money you’ve invested in your gaming, adding up every purchase ever made via their service. While the platform itself is free to download and use, many games are only available through purchase or require a monthly payment.
To see how much you’ve spent on Steam, just follow this link, log into your personal account, and check the “Total Spend” row. Then you can cry tears of regret or relief, depending on the number. One 20-year-old user discovered he’s spent more than $100,000.
Online gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry; last year the PC game industry had a revenue of $33 billion. Steam, which is available on PC or Mac, often has anywhere from 9 million to 15 million individuals playing online at any one time, with 67 million monthly active users.
This number will be sure to increase has Valve Corporation plans to launch Steam China, breaking into the largest gaming market worldwide (just ahead of the United States). According to a market forecast by Newzoo, China alone will account for one quarter of all global gaming revenue.
