Valve's latest bartering sideline, Steam Trading Cards, exits beta and becomes available to all on Wednesday, June 26 at 2PM ET (11AM PT, 7PM Brit-time). Valve incorporated the exchangeable in-game rewards into many more games in addition to the beta launch line-up, but it's unclear just how many games they'll feature in at Wednesday's launch.

If you've been reading this and wondering why you can feel your wallet shaking, it's because it's already sensed the likelihood of an imminent Steam summer sale. Valve signed off today's news by saying, "Making trading cards available to all Steam users is a step towards an event we think everyone can be excited about..." Holy tease, Batman!

Steam's summer round of price pounding usually begins around late June, early July, so it's certainly about time. We'll be watching the skies for minus signs and weighty percentages.