Steam
Steam lets you buy, download, update and play games, and chat with other players. It’s made by Valve, based in the United States.
Criminals have used its name in fake downloads or scams, so get it only from store.steampowered.com.
What it is
Steam is Valve’s games shop and library app. People use it to install and launch games, receive updates and chat with friends.
It manages downloaded game files. Valve collects playtime, game progress, device details and crash data to provide its services. Optional features use the microphone for voice chat, screen access for Remote Play, and input permissions for controllers.
Valve provides the official Mac download. Steam Families lets adults limit children’s games, playtime, shop access and chat. Games and community downloads have also been used to distribute malware, so the official client does not make every download safe.
Who makes it
Valve is an American company founded in 1996 that makes games, gaming hardware and Steam. Its legal name is Valve Corporation. Its website is valvesoftware.com.
Is it the real one?
Every Mac app carries a signature from the developer who made it. Apple checks who the developer is before handing out the certificate, and macOS refuses to open an app whose signature has been tampered with.
The real Steam is signed by Valve Corporation, Apple team ID MXGJJ98X76. A copy signed by anyone else isn’t from Valve. HARD’s Mac app checks this for you; to check by hand, open Terminal and run codesign -dv "/Applications/Steam.app", and look for that TeamIdentifier.
Its bundle ID, the name macOS knows it by, is com.valvesoftware.steam or com.valvesoftware.steam.helper or com.valvesoftware.steam.helper.EH. Download it only from store.steampowered.com, not from an ad or a link someone sends you.
Fakes. Kaspersky’s 2025 report documented malicious or unwanted files disguised as Steam, plus fake Steam login pages and gift-card offers used to steal account details.
What it connects to
In normal use, Steam talks to these places on the internet. A firewall that asks before apps connect, like the one in HARD’s Mac app, will show them.
| Address | Why |
|---|---|
steampowered.com | Steam shop, account and support services. |
steamcommunity.com | Community pages and social features. |
steamgames.com | Steam web services. |
steamusercontent.com | Steam content requests. |
steamcontent.com | Steam content requests. |
steamstatic.com | Images and other Steam files. |
akamaihd.net | Steam content delivery. |
What it can see
macOS asks you before an app can use these. You can change them any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
| Permission | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Input Monitoring | To receive controller input through Steam Input. |
| Accessibility | To let a Steam Controller move the desktop mouse pointer. |
| Microphone | To let other players hear you in voice chat. |
| Screen & System Audio Recording | To stream the Mac’s game screen and sound to another device with Remote Play. |
Security record
Problems with Steam or Valve in the last three years, newest first. Keeping the app up to date covers the ones that were fixed.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| An attack on Valve’s European shipping partner likely exposed customers’ contact and hardware-order details; affected systems were isolated, and the investigation was ongoing when Valve notified customers in August. | ↗ | |
| Kaspersky reported account-stealing malware in Steam Workshop wallpapers for Wallpaper Engine on Windows; Steam removed the identified malicious wallpapers and links. | ↗ | |
| The Windows game PirateFi distributed through Steam stole browser cookies to hijack accounts; Valve removed the game and warned people who downloaded it. | ↗ |
References
- Steam — official download and features store.steampowered.com
- About Valve valvesoftware.com
- Valve Handbook for New Employees valvesoftware.com
- Fleet software catalogue — Steam for macOS fleetdm.com
- Steam Privacy Policy store.steampowered.com
- Steam Families User Guide and FAQ help.steampowered.com
- Steam Client Updates store.steampowered.com
- Required Ports for Steam help.steampowered.com
- Steam Controller (2026) — Feature and Troubleshooting Guide help.steampowered.com
- Troubleshooting Microphone Problems help.steampowered.com
- Steam Remote Play help.steampowered.com
- Apple — Control access to screen and system audio recording on Mac support.apple.com
- Kaspersky online shopping threat report 2025 securelist.com
- Valve notifies Steam hardware customers of a data breach bleepingcomputer.com
- Dozens of malicious wallpapers found on Steam Workshop securelist.com
- Gamers under fire: malware on official websites kaspersky.com
- The signature on a real installed copy, read by HARD with
codesign.