Steam is Valve's PC gaming platform, first launched in 2003 as a way to deliver and update games digitally, and it has since grown into one of the largest storefronts for PC players. The startup sound became familiar to millions of users who heard it every time they opened the client to browse, download or launch a game. As gaming content spread on YouTube, Twitch and TikTok, creators began reusing the chime outside the app as instant shorthand for starting a session, showing a desktop or joking about a backlog, keeping it recognisable well beyond Steam itself.