Steam, the world’s largest PC game distribution platform, is all set to get a major visual overhaul. As Valve has notified developers that the platform is about to receive a host of changes.
According to a post on NeoGAF, Valve notes that the upcoming overhaul will give users a number of ways to navigate the store and adapt to their preferences depending on the games they’ve played. Moreover, it’ll build the more personalized interface Steam received in the last Discovery update. Valve in a post on NeoGAF –
When we launched the Steam Discovery Update, we introduced a new and smarter Steam store built around personalisation and recommendations. In the time since the Discovery Update, we’ve iterated on the features and made improvements to support the goal of helping each customer find the titles they are most likely to enjoy playing.
The post further mentions the kind of changes we can expect. For instance, the home page is set to get an overhaul with larger images and a new layout for navigating games, deals, and discounts. Besides, Valve is also revamping the left navigation column that’ll show new releases, top selling games, game updates and special game launches. In addition, Steam is also set to get a brand new ‘Whats popular among your friends feature’, which essentially tracks what your friends are playing, something similar found on the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live.
Valve also revealed its plans to change the kind of games that appear on the Steam storefront. It will essentially make it easier for new titles to reach target users and eventually drive more traffic. Titles will show up in a different way on the ‘New on Steam’ page and the ‘New on Steam’ queue. While new releases will be recommended to specific users on the home page and will also appear on popular lists if trending.
“The goal is to reach a more engaged group of customers and drive more relevant traffic directly to your store page. This change should result in your title appearing to a smaller, but better-targeted group of potential customers based on their preferences and tastes,” further added Valve.
According to Valve, the whole idea here is to improve the overall user experience. Hence, they’re working on bringing more global customer preference options, additional curator options, and a dedicated section highlighting all the latest releases. Valve confirmed its actively working on bringing these set of features and plans to roll out the update in the next few weeks. Additionally, the company hints that they have “another set of changes in the works” that’ll further build upon these changes.
