Steam

Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to distribute games and related media online, housing content from small independent developers and large software development studios alike. Steam also has community features, automated game updates, and in-game voice and chat functionality.

On 20 May 2022, Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD (2011), and Sonic 3 & Knuckles were delisted from the service to be replaced with their Sonic Origins couterparts.^[1] On 9 September 2024, Sonic Generations and it's associated collection were removed for individual purchase, being made part of the Sonic the Hedgehog Legacy Bundle instead ahead of time of the release of Sonic X Shadow Generations.

On 9 November 2024, it was announced that many games and bundles considered "Sega Classics" would be delisted from sale on Steam, as well as other modern digital storefronts, on 6 December 2024, though they would not actually be removed from the Steam store until three days later on 9 December. This included Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Spinball and Flicky.

History

Valve originally released Steam in 2003 with the purpose of updating their games and adding anti cheat to titles developed by them such as Team Fortress Classic, Half-Life (1998), and Counter-Strike 1.6. Half-Life 2 was the first game to be offered digitally on Steam when it released on 16 November 2004, followed by Half-Life 2 Deathmatch. The Source SDK released on 30 November 2004, allowing fans to create mods or games using the Source Engine. Valve allowed third party developers to sell games on Steam during late 2005, marking Steam's transition into a digital distribution service.

Sonic games

DLC

Bundled packages

Any titles, bundles, or DLC marked with an asterisk (*) are delisted unless one already purchased them prior to them being taken down on Steam.

Trading Cards

Various Steam games have Steam Trading Cards that can be collected by playing certain games or by purchasing them on the platform. When they are all put together, the user receives a badge with XP points for their Steam account. A few Sonic games utilize this feature.

In the games themselves, the player can only receive a limited number of cards. The rest can be obtained randomly when purchased, exchanged with other users on the platform, or obtained from the community market. Collecting the entire set allows the player to destroy one of each type of card in order to obtain badges, emotes and profile backgrounds.

Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed

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Sonic Tails Dr. Eggman Gilius Joe Musashi B.D. Joe Shadow Shogun AiAi

Sonic Mania

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Heavy Gunner Heavy King Heavy Magician Heavy Rider and Jimmy Heavy Shinobi Knuckles Sonic Tails

Sonic Forces

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Buddy A Buddy B Buddy C Chaos Classic Sonic Eggman Infinite Knuckles Metal Sonic Shadow Sonic Tails Zavok

Team Sonic Racing

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Sonic Shadow Dr. Eggman Amy Silver Team Sonic

Sonic Colors: Ultimate

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Yacker White Wisp Cyan Wisp Yellow Wisp Orange Wisp Green Wisp Pink Wisp Blue Wisp Purple Wisp Jade Wisp Sonic Dr. Eggman Tails Orbot Cubot

Sonic Frontiers

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Sonic Amy Knuckles Tails Dr. Eggman Sage Big Elder Koco Hermit Koco

Sonic Superstars

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Amy Eggman Fang Knuckles Sonic Tails Trip

Badges

Badges are icons that can be displayed on the user's profile. They can be obtained by being crafted from a full set of cards.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

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Red Power Shield Twister Puffer Fish Bee Hot Rod All Star

Sonic Mania

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Gold Ring Knuckles the Echidna Miles 'Tails' Prower Sonic the Hedgehog Dr Eggman Chaos Emerald

Sonic Forces

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Sonic Forces White Wisp Sonic Forces Yellow Wisp Sonic Forces Green Wisp Sonic Forces Red Wisp Sonic Forces Indigo Wisp Sonic Forces Phantom Ruby

Team Sonic Racing

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Team Vector Team Vector Team Rose Team Eggman Team Dark Team Sonic

Sonic Colors: Ultimate

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Sonic Colors White Wisp Sonic Colors Yellow Wisp Sonic Colors Green Wisp Sonic Colors Orange Wisp Sonic Colors Jade Wisp Sonic Colors Sonic

Sonic Frontiers

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Koco Badge Koco Badge: Iron Koco Badge: Bronze Koco Badge: Silver Koco Badge: Gold Sonic

Sonic Superstars

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White Emerald Yellow Emerald Blue Emerald Red Emerald Green Emerald Purple Emerald

Profile Backgrounds

XP points can be redeemed for Steam profile backgrounds.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

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Carrier Zone Dragon Canyon Race of AGES Sanctuary Falls Temple Trouble

Sonic Mania

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Knuckles Tails Sonic Green Hill Zone Studiopolis Zone

Sonic Forces

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Team Sonic Racing

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Amy Vector Dr. Eggman Shadow Sonic

Sonic Colors: Ultimate

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Sonic & Yacker Tails & White Wisps Dr. Eggman & Amusement Park Orbot & Cubot Wisps

Sonic Frontiers

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Open Zone enemies: Bubble, Shell, Cyclone, Banger and Soldiers Guardians: Tower, Ninja and Asura. Titans: Giganto and Wyvern Sage Symbol

Sonic Superstars

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Sonic and Eggman Amy and Knuckles Tails and Sonic

Sonic X Shadow Generations

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Shadow, Modern Sonic, and Classic Sonic Shadow, Modern Sonic, and Classic Sonic Shadow, Modern Sonic, and Classic Sonic

Emoticons

XP points can also be redeemed for emoticons that can be used in Steam chat.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

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:Beat: :BillyHatcher: :NiGHTS: :RyoHazuki: :SuperSonic:

Sonic Mania

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:SonicManiaSonic: :SonicManiaTails: :SonicManiaKnuckles: :SonicManiaGoldRing: :SonicManiaItemBox:

Sonic Forces

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:SonicHedgehog: :TailsProwler: :KnucklesEchidna: :ClassicSonic: :Eggman:

Team Sonic Racing

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:lightning_wisp: :rhythm_wisp: :rocket_wisp: :burst_wisp: :drill_wisp:

Sonic Colors: Ultimate

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:green_wisp: :pink_wisp: :blue_wisp: :purple_wisp: :jade_wisp:

Sonic Frontiers

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:FrontiersSonic: :FrontiersSage: :FrontiersAmy: :FrontiersKnuckles: :FrontiersTails:

Sonic Superstars

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:SuperstarsSonicFace: :SuperstarsTailsFace: :SuperstarsKnucklesFace: :SuperstarsAmyFace.png: :SuperstarsSonic: :SuperstarsTails: :SuperstarsKnuckles: :SuperstarsAmy: :SuperstarsMedal: :SuperstarsMedalSmall:

Sonic X Shadow Generations

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:MariaGenerations: :OrbotGenerations: :GeraldGenerations: :RougeGenerations: :OmegaGenerations: :ShadowGenerations: :CubotGenerations: :BigGenerations:

Trivia

• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is the first Sonic game to be released on the Steam platform.
• Sonic Heroes and Sonic Riders were the only major PC titles of the Sonic the Hedgehog series that were not released on Steam.
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed was the first Sonic game on Steam to feature Steam Trading Cards.
• Sonic Lost World is so far the only Sonic game on Steam to have the most Achievements, with a total of 100.
• At release, all of Sonic Superstars' DLC was unintentionally made free for a short period of time. Though the prices were soon changed after, this remains the only way it was possible to obtain the Comic Style Skins on PC, and anyone who obtained the DLC this way was allowed to keep it.
• The Sega Steam Developer profile has the tagline "To be this good takes AGES".
  • The description for the Sega Steam Developer profile says, "All your favourite SEGA games in one place."
• The Sonic the Hedgehog Steam Curator profile has the tagline "Gotta go Fast!", a reference to the iconic Sonic X theme song.

References

External links

• Sonic the Hedgehog franchise on Steam
• Steam (software) at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia