Computer owners are no longer going to the stores to buy their favorite computer games – but they still buy them, despite all the nonsense said by the console fanboys. It’s just that, because time has changed, we all tend to purchase the products online from digital download distribution sites like Steam.

And the proof that computer gaming is still a booming industry comes from the latest Steam data: according to a recent press release, Steam surpassed 25 million active accounts in 2009, up 25% from the prior year. Of the 25 million accounts, over 10 million of those have profiles in the Steam Community, meaning that they are highly active players.

And it’s all natural, in the end: Steam is offering over 1,000 titles in their catalogs, they’re now offering Steamworks and solid anti-cheating measures – as well as special offers and no need to wander aimlessly through a game shop, so we can all say that this is the future. Console owners will see that too with the next generation consoles that will certainly put an even greater focus on the online part of the business.

“Steam turned five years old in March 2009,” said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. “With the introduction of each new platform feature released over the years — such as the Steam Community, Steam Cloud, and Steamworks — we’ve seen corresponding growth in account numbers, concurrent player numbers and developer support for the platform. As such, we plan to continue to expand and grow the platform to better serve the developers supporting the open platform and millions of gamers logging in each day.”

Nice job, Valve!