"Steam will be sending the majority of Half-Life 2 (encrypted) to people who preorder from it, then a week later, will be decrypted and officially released on the program."

"He says that an official announcement on the matter should be expected on the 22nd of September, so we should hopefully get the full details then."

Steam is already prepared for credit-card-based payment. It's all in there, just not activated. Check with a good viewer this file in your Steam Directory:

\Steam \skins\grey\steam& #92;creditcard_back.tga

< br>See, that shows were to find the needed numbers on your credit card. So there will be suddenly a new Steam option.

If you check this file:
\Steam\steam \steamui_english.txt


you will find:

"Steam_Subscrib eIntro1" "You're about to subscribe to:"
"Steam_SubscribeIntro 2" "This will cost $9.95 per month.

Since it is your first time subscribing to a game,
we need to ask you for some additional information."
"Steam_Subsc ribeIntroProductName" "Valve Premier Pack"
"Steam_SubscribeUser Info" "Please enter your first and last names, exactly as they
appear on your credit card."
"Steam_EmailAddress " "Email address"
"Steam_EmailAddre ssVerification" "(for purchase confirmation and receipt)"
"Steam_FirstName " "First Name"
"Steam_LastName" "Last Name"
"Steam_SubscribeCard Info" "Choose a credit card type, and enter the card number
and expiration date."
"Steam_CreditCardTy pe" "Credit card type"
"Steam_CreditCardNum ber" "Credit card number"
"Steam_CreditCardE xpiration" "Card expiration"
"Steam_Subscri beBillingInfo" "Enter your address as it appears on your credit card
billing statement."
"Steam_Address " "Address"
"Steam_City" "City"
"Steam_StateOrProvi nce" "State or Province"
"Steam_Country" "Country"
"Steam_PostCode" "Postal (or Zip) Code"
"Steam_CountryOfResi dence" "I currently live in the country selected above"
"Steam_SubscribeRev iewInfo" "If there are any errors below, click 'Back' to fix them.\nOtherwise, click 'Purchase' to complete the transaction."
"Steam_Produ ctCostLabel" "Cost"
"Steam_TaxLabel" "Estimated tax"
"Steam_TotalLabel" "Total"
"Steam_ProcessingS ubscriptionInfo" "Processing your subscription.
This should take less than a minute."
"Steam_SubscribeC ompleteInfo" "Thank you! Your subscription to the
Valve Premier Pack is complete.

In your Games list, you can now double click the
game to play (or right-click on the game's title and
select 'Play' in the menu.)"