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Valve Discusses The Past And Future Of The Steam Store
Valve’s Robin Walker took to Steam’s blog today to discuss the ongoing evolution of the Steam store, and what gamers can expect out of it moving into the future. The post includes a look at the successes and problems that Valve has encountered in the past with the Steam store, with a particular focus on the goals that Valve has set for itself, and how those goals are accomplished. Subsequent posts will address the issue of ways that people exploit the store and how those problems can be addressed, and additional info on the Steam Direct publishing fee, along with additional features coming to Steam in the coming weeks.
The current blog post speaks to the challenge of addressing a broad spectrum of potential users, from hardcore players who are constantly on Steam, to other users who might only visit occasionally to consider a new game. Valve considers several recent innovations as successes, notably including the Greenlight program, which has helped several games reach popularity that came as surprises to the team at Valve.
A big challenge continues to be how Steam puts certain games forward to any given user, and the algorithm that determines what games you see has a new feature. To begin to address this issue, beginning today, an algorithm section on game pages explains exactly why Steam is suggesting a particular game to you.
For more information about what Walker has to say, check out the full blog post.
Our Take
Steam usage is a big part of the way many PC gamers explore the gaming world. It's refreshing to have some insight directly from Valve regarding their approach to improving the digital storefront.
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