ATI has gotten into an agreement with Valve to deliver free games to all owners of ATI Radeon graphics cards via Steam, the latter’s online platform for the distribution and management of digital content.
As of now, ATI Radeon graphics cards owners will get a free copy of Half-Life 2: Lost Coast and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch via Steam. Gamers will have to install Steam (if it is already not installed), which will detect the presence of ATI Radeon hardware and then enable immediate access to full versions of the games free of charge. Not only that, Steam will be embedded in all ATI Catalyst Software and Driver packages through early 2008.
Moreover, consumers who buy the ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT will get Valve: Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Half-Life 2: Episode Two. It seems like a match made in heaven and NVIDIA will surely have to come out with something to match this!