Steam is a video game digital distribution service by Valve. It was launched as a standalone software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to include games from third-party publishers. Steam has also expanded into a digital web-based and mobile online storefront. Steam offers digital rights management (DRM), game creation servers, video streaming, and social networking services. It also provides users with automatic game installation and updates, and community features such as friends and groups lists, cloud storage, and voice and in-game chat functions.