Steam Skins : Why So Few and What to Expect?

Have you ever heard about Steam skins? And I am not talking about the famous ones everybody is buying and selling like crazy on skin trading sites, but the skins that alter the exterior of your client. Oh, didn’t you know those exist? Neither did I, until a friend of mine wondered why you could alter the digital appearance of nearly anything in today’s technology-driven society but your Steam application. Despite the fact that the application is 14 years old, for some reason people rarely bothered themselves with changing the client’s aesthetics. Though if you are in the mood to mess with your Steam a little, here’s how you can do it.

Download an Existing Skin

If you are imagining epic Steam skins with your favorite characters, TV shows and, of course, games, then I’m about to disappoint you. On what seems the biggest service with free offers I’ve found no more than 20 skins ready for downloading, not to mention that you won’t be impressed by high-level graphics and custom art integrated into the exterior to transform your client.

Here’s a short list of the skins I fancied with the download links. Hint: try not to set the expectation bar too high.

I was astounded by the fact that not so many people came up with an idea to redesign their Steam client during these 14 years, especially considering that a lot of old-school gamers are also programmers. And in general, people who are obsessed with games understand something about coding, design and the Internet, or everything at once.

Using a Specialized Service

I saw the light at the end of the tunnel while digging through several websites, hoping to find something new, but all the articles and “top-10 favorite lists” led me to the single SteamSkins.org I linked above. And then I saw it. My eyes glittered, my mouth widened and my heart filled with both joy and determination – I stumbled upon a site with actual beautiful skins called SteamCustomizer.com. Ju-ust to be disappointed in a couple of minutes, of course (hehe, were you hoping for a fairytale end?).

The service asked to sign up with my Steam account, which is typical for everything connected to gaming now. I explored it a little, took my time to appreciate all the mind-blowing themed skins with my favorite shows, games, characters and everything else a gamer could ask for and decided to install one. Of course, the website is freemium with better skins being paid for, which is also expected.

It turned out you needed to download a client to install a skin, and it freaked me out. Call me paranoid, but I am very cautious about who and how will use my Steam account info. If you are not as anxious about the matter as I am, you can try the service, and I would be grateful if you could email me your first-person experience.

I believe that soon the niche will become popular, and beautiful Steam skins like those I saw on the SteamCustomizer will be free. Until then, we wait.

Written by Alex Miller

Alex is the founder of the csgoreview.com and, as you have probably guessed , a computer gaming fan to the marrow of his bones. Video games and eSports are his calling, hobby, and job, and he considers himself to be very lucky for being able to connect all that. He also studies the gaming industry and writes articles about it on a regular basis.