Valve is introducing something to its Steam PC Platform that will hopefully curb piracy while avoiding the unpleasant task of saddling customers with useless DRM.

The new feature to grace Steamworks, Valve’s free suite of publishing and development tools, is the Custom Executable Generation (CEG) technology. CEG makes a unique copy of the game for each user without imposing install limits or the need to install root kits on the computer. The unique signature essentially makes it harder to pirate the game without punishing the consumer.

If it proves as effective as it sounds, CEG will generate a win-win situation for both the game company and the consumer.

EA’s debacle with Spore’s DRM last fall shows that trying to stop piracy should never come before customer satisfaction, especially if the methods don’t end up doing a whole lot anyways.

Valve has also added support for in-game downloadable content and matchmaking, which should make PC games that much more enjoyable.