According to word on the official website from Valve, a record number of gamers played over the system last weekend - a fact which the developer attributed to the stabilisation of the network, which was assisted by the release of Steam versions incorporating popular downloads Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat.

Of course, Steam publicity has hardly been positive of late, but at least have shown willing and are now optimistic that their content distribution system will be capable of handling the Counter-Strike: Condition Zero launch planned for November 18th. In anticipation of this, Valve announced plans to add greater bandwidth and further content servers to lighten the load and seem keen that the first 'retail' product launched over the network will prove a pleasant surprise.

We do still have grave concerns over this launch naturally, given Steam's appalling performance thus far. The official update also carried word that the offline LAN feature is now nearing completion, and that cheaters are also beginning to be riddled-out (banned).

By Luke Guttridge