Valve and partners announce they have found a way to marry the convenience of buying games and hardware online through Steam with the convenience of going to the store:

GameStop, GAME UK, EB Games, and Valve today announced dedicated Steam Sections launching this fall in GameStop (USA), GAME UK, and EB Games (Canada) stores. The section will feature the Steam Hardware devices launching November 10 (Steam Controller, Steam Link, and Steam Machines) as well as a variety of Steam prepaid cards.

Through the holiday season, GameStop, GAME UK, and EB Games will be the exclusive non-digital retailer for the Steam Hardware products in their respective territories. Steam prepaid cards launched in stores three years ago, and sales performance for those offerings has been increasing each year.

"GameStop, GAME UK, and EB Games are leading retail destinations for core gamers and early adopters," said Gabe Newell of Valve. "Creating a 'store within a store' across North America and the UK is a significant win for getting the first generation of Steam Hardware products into gamers' hands."

Valve partnered with these leading retailers earlier this year to launch the pre-order for the Steam Hardware devices, offering gamers the chance to receive their gear 30 days prior to launch. That offer sold out in less than a month, and those who pre-order now through the Nov 10 launch will receive free copies of Pysonix's hit title Rocket League and Valve's classic Portal 2.

"Steam has helped grow PC gaming into a leading platform for games," said Bob Puzon, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop, the exclusive retail partner in the U.S. for Steam Hardware. "With millions of gamers already enjoying the Steam desktop experience, we anticipate a strong demand for the upcoming Steam Hardware products and are looking forward to serving as the exclusive non-digital retail launch partner."

"Steam continues to grow and has become synonymous with PC gaming, and as the UK's number 1 gaming specialist retailer we are excited about bringing these products to GAME in UK," said Charlotte Knight, managing director at GAME. "With the innovation that the Steam Controller, Steam Link, and the Steam Machines give gamers in the living room, we expect to see significant demand for these new products. The first signs of this can be seen with the sold out Early Bird launch of both the Steam Link and Controller on October 16th exclusively at GAME in the UK. GAME are delighted to be partnering with Valve on the new technology and support the continuing growth of this category."

A leading platform for PC, Mac, and Linux games, Steam offers more than 6,000 titles to millions of gamers around the world. Targeted for release on November 10, the Steam Controller, Steam Link, and Steam Machines are a collection of hardware designed to expand the Steam gaming experience into any room in the home.