The announcement was made via a post to Steam’s private developer forms, which was then shared publicly on Reddit. The text refers to bitcoin as an “increasingly popular online payment method” and notesthe company’sperspective that the payment method“makes Steam an even better place to buy or sell games.”
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While developers are being made aware of the new options, they won’t have to do anything to help facilitate the process, according to a report from Tech Spot. Any fluctuations of the value of bitcoin compared to the various geographic currencies in use on Steam will be taken into account by the purchase process.
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Users will be charged the purchase price of their content according to their region, which is then converted to bitcoin at checkout. The funds are then transferred to the payment provider, who will convert the bitcoin back to local currency using the latest exchange rates and pay that money back to Valve. At no point will Valve receive or hold bitcoin.
Bitcoin was invented back in 2008, and has sincebeen adopted as a payment method by various online services and retailers. Last month, the fact that Microsoftappeared to end its acceptance of bitcoin payments on its online store was seen as a statement on the currency’s popularity — but the company soon made an about-face and confirmed that it would continue to accept bitcoin.
Valve hasn’t put a time frame on when users can expect to see bitcoin payments go live on the Steam storefront, but all signs point toward the change coming sooner rather than later.
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Counter-Strike is Valve's long-running competitive multiplayer shooter series. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has stayed near the top of Steam's player count charts ever since it launched in 2012. After over a decade of dominance, Valve first announced Counter-Strike 2 as a free, sequel-level upgrade to Global Offensive earlier this year. After some slight teases earlier in the month, Valve finally decided to surprise launch the game on September 27.
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Counter-Strike 2 is available now on PC via Steam. It's a free-to-play game, although players can buy a Prime Status Upgrade for $15 that grants buyers the titular moniker. Having Prime Status grants exclusive items, item drops, and weapon cases and makes the game more likely to matchmake you with other Prime Status Counter-Strike 2 players.
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