New market for buying and selling items enters beta, only available for Team Fortress 2; 15 percent transaction fee, game-specific surcharge attached to all sales.

Valve today launched the Steam Community Market, currently in beta and compatible only with Team Fortress 2. The virtual market allows users to buy and sell in-game items using their Steam Wallet funds. Support for other titles will be introduced in 2013.

The launch of the Steam Community Market was a result of Steam trading popularity. Valve software engineer Tony Paloma said over 500,000 trades are made every week and that "giving players a way to turn gameplay into funds for new items and games is a key component for moving that success forward."

A transaction fee of 15 percent paid by the buyer and collected by Steam will be applied to every sale. Valve said this fee is used to protect against fraud incidents as well as the cost of development and future Steam economy features. The fee may also be increased in the future, Valve said.

Additionally, a "Team Fortress 2 Fee" is applied to all transactions. It is a game-specific surcharge that is determined and collected by the publisher, which in this case is Valve.

The Steam Community Market supports numerous currencies. Purchases made with non-Steam Wallet currency will pay an exchange rate calculated by Valve on a daily basis.

A full list of details regarding the Steam Community Market is available at Valve's Valve's website.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot