diff --git a/code/qcommon/common.cpp b/code/qcommon/common.cpp
index 397abd71bd..472b6de4aa 100644
--- a/code/qcommon/common.cpp
+++ b/code/qcommon/common.cpp
@@ -1110,6 +1110,8 @@ void Com_Init( char *commandLine ) {
 		FS_InitFilesystem ();	//uses z_malloc
 		//re.R_InitWorldEffects();   // this doesn't do much but I want to be sure certain variables are intialized.
 
+		Sys_SteamInit();
+
 		Com_ExecuteCfg();
 
 		// override anything from the config files with command line args
@@ -1614,6 +1616,8 @@ void Com_Shutdown (void) {
 		com_journalFile = 0;
 	}
 
+	Sys_SteamShutdown();
+
 #ifdef JK2_MODE
 	JK2SP_Shutdown();
 #else
diff --git a/codemp/qcommon/common.cpp b/codemp/qcommon/common.cpp
index d8c901d294..715ed3b1a0 100644
--- a/codemp/qcommon/common.cpp
+++ b/codemp/qcommon/common.cpp
@@ -1199,6 +1199,8 @@ void Com_Init( char *commandLine ) {
 
 		FS_InitFilesystem ();
 
+		Sys_SteamInit();
+
 		Com_InitJournaling();
 
 		// Add some commands here already so users can use them from config files
@@ -1709,6 +1711,8 @@ void Com_Shutdown (void)
 		com_journalFile = 0;
 	}
 
+	Sys_SteamShutdown();
+
 	MSG_shutdownHuffman();
 /*
 	// Only used for testing changes to huffman frequency table when tuning.
diff --git a/shared/sys/sys_local.h b/shared/sys/sys_local.h
index 2a404f4c05..26700426ee 100644
--- a/shared/sys/sys_local.h
+++ b/shared/sys/sys_local.h
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ void		Sys_SigHandler( int signal );
 void		Sys_AnsiColorPrint( const char *msg );
 #endif
 
+// Steam integration
+void		Sys_SteamInit();
+void		Sys_SteamShutdown();
+
 struct UnpackDLLResult
 {
 	bool succeeded;
diff --git a/shared/sys/sys_unix.cpp b/shared/sys/sys_unix.cpp
index 3f0d544ef0..dd7cee3be8 100644
--- a/shared/sys/sys_unix.cpp
+++ b/shared/sys/sys_unix.cpp
@@ -642,3 +642,25 @@ void Sys_AnsiColorPrint( const char *msg )
 		fputs( buffer, stderr );
 	}
 }
+
+/*
+================
+Sys_SteamInit
+
+Only Windows has this feature at the moment.
+================
+*/
+void Sys_SteamInit()
+{
+}
+
+/*
+================
+Sys_SteamShutdown
+
+Only Windows has this feature at the moment.
+================
+*/
+void Sys_SteamShutdown()
+{
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/shared/sys/sys_win32.cpp b/shared/sys/sys_win32.cpp
index a622b4b6a6..70633cb9f4 100644
--- a/shared/sys/sys_win32.cpp
+++ b/shared/sys/sys_win32.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ along with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 #include "qcommon/game_version.h"
 #include "sys_local.h"
+#include "sys_loadlib.h"
 #include <direct.h>
 #include <io.h>
 #include <shlobj.h>
@@ -611,3 +612,87 @@ void Sys_Sleep( int msec )
 	Sleep( msec );
 #endif
 }
+
+/*
+================
+Sys_SteamInit
+
+Steam initialization is done here.
+In order for Steam to work, two things are needed:
+- steam_api.dll (not included with retail Jedi Academy or Jedi Outcast!)
+- steam_appid.txt (likewise)
+steam_appid.txt is a text file containing either "6020" or "6030".
+These correspond to Jedi Academy and Jedi Outcast, respectively.
+
+Steamworks SDK is required to use the playtime tracking and overlay features
+without launching the app manually through Steam.
+Unfortunately, the SDK does not play nice with copyleft licenses.
+Fortunately! we can invoke the library directly and avoid this entirely,
+provided the end-user has the goods.
+Unfortunately! this is platform specific and so we have to do it here.
+================
+*/
+
+typedef bool(__stdcall* SteamAPIInit_Type)();
+typedef void(__stdcall* SteamAPIShutdown_Type)();
+static SteamAPIInit_Type SteamAPI_Init;
+static SteamAPIShutdown_Type SteamAPI_Shutdown;
+static void* gp_steamLibrary = nullptr;
+
+void Sys_SteamInit()
+{
+	if (!Cvar_VariableIntegerValue("com_steamIntegration"))
+	{
+		// Don't do anything if com_steamIntegration is disabled
+		return;
+	}
+
+	// Load the library
+	gp_steamLibrary = Sys_LoadLibrary("steam_api" DLL_EXT);
+	if (!gp_steamLibrary)
+	{
+		Com_Printf(S_COLOR_RED "Steam integration failed: Couldn't find steam_api" DLL_EXT "\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
+	// Load the functions
+	SteamAPI_Init = (SteamAPIInit_Type)Sys_LoadFunction(gp_steamLibrary, "SteamAPI_Init");
+	SteamAPI_Shutdown = (SteamAPIShutdown_Type)Sys_LoadFunction(gp_steamLibrary, "SteamAPI_Shutdown");
+
+	if (!SteamAPI_Shutdown || !SteamAPI_Init)
+	{
+		Com_Printf(S_COLOR_RED "Steam integration failed: Library invalid\n");
+		Sys_UnloadLibrary(gp_steamLibrary);
+		gp_steamLibrary = nullptr;
+		return;
+	}
+
+	// Finally, call the init function in Steam, which should pop up the overlay if everything went correctly
+	if (!SteamAPI_Init())
+	{
+		Com_Printf(S_COLOR_RED "Steam integration failed: Steam init failed. Ensure steam_appid.txt exists and is valid.\n");
+		Sys_UnloadLibrary(gp_steamLibrary);
+		gp_steamLibrary = nullptr;
+		return;
+	}
+}
+
+/*
+================
+Sys_SteamShutdown
+
+Platform-specific exit code
+================
+*/
+void Sys_SteamShutdown()
+{
+	if (!gp_steamLibrary)
+	{
+		Com_Printf("Skipping Steam integration shutdown...\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
+	SteamAPI_Shutdown();
+	Sys_UnloadLibrary(gp_steamLibrary);
+	gp_steamLibrary = nullptr;
+}
\ No newline at end of file