September 6, 2011 - TF2 Team





It seems like just yesterday that we announced the Steam Trading Beta on the Team Fortress blog. That's when we looked it up and discovered we actually announced that four weeks ago, and over one million items and game gifts have been traded by beta testers since then. And that's pretty inspiring. Also, frankly, terrifying. Because when we say it felt like yesterday when we announced that, we mean we literally have no memory of anything from that blog post up until the entire TF2 team woke up in a tub filled with ice cubes this morning. We can't pinpoint specifically which organs we're missing, so we figure our best bet is just to play out the day and see if anything jumps out as different (no heartbeat, inability to go to the bathroom, missing circulatory system, etc.).



At any rate, as of today Steam Trading is officially out of beta, in the Steamworks SDK, and available to everyone. Two new games will now have tradable in-game items: Spiral Knights, the cooperative adventure from Three Rings and Sega, and our own Portal 2. And remember, this is just the beginning. We can't wait to see what our fellow gamers and developers are going to come up with to move Steam Trading forward.



To celebrate, items are on sale in the Team Fortress 2, Portal 2, and Spiral Knights in-game stores.



If you've gotten this far into this blog post and still have no idea what we're talking about, don't sweat it: There's an entire Steam Trading FAQ online to answer any questions you might have.



If, however, you've gotten this far into this blog post and have no idea what we're talking about because you woke up in an ice-filled tub this morning, and are wondering whether that queasy feeling you're having means you "have an upset stomach" or "are liverless", please get in touch with us, because we'd like to compare notes.



