Steam Getting Library and Events Update
Long after a UI design leak, Steam is finally getting a huge Library and Events update in September.
As a leading digital distribution platform, online outlet Steam from Valve Corporation has been a top choice for PC players. Nevertheless, it is not surely the perfect store for consumers and can use some overhaul to increase its appeal.
Previously mock-up UI images of upcoming Steam library were accidentally leaked and people have waited long to see it as a reality. Finally, Valve has decided to roll out an open beta for Steam Library on September 17, 2019.
RELATED: Hades Comes to Steam Early Access
During a close door media briefing before PAX West, the company talked about their future plans for both Steamworks and Steam Labs and various updates to come, planning to officially launch all of these on the same month.
For developers to communicate with their player base, a brand-new Steam Events tool is coming soon as well. From September 4 through 17, new experiment and search tool will arrive that are open for all players to try out.
RELATED: Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes PC and PS4 Release Date
Following latest update for Steam Library, players will have better tools to have their collection organized and keep up with newest updates. From games you are playing to what your friends are playing, all will be shown at new landing page.
Valve is employing their newest visual layout to help players decide what they might be interested to play next. There is a "What's New" section added to home page that shows related news and updates for games of your library.
RELATED: Final Fantasy VIII Remastered Announced
Developers can easily utilize this section to promote upcoming activity, free XP weekends or even for live tournaments by curating announcements for their titles to bring back players to an old game that have not played in a long time.
Although Valve has an event system for Steam already but it is next to be forgotten and doesn't work effectively. Developers can now set up new events that will automatically go live on a scheduled time for players to see.
RELATED: ARMA 3 Contact Expansion Announced
For a broader reach, localization support for other languages aside from English will be added. They can notify players in advance of any oncoming events and then whitelist approved accounts to stream using built-in broadcast support.
Once they create an announcement, it is easy to have them show up at community hub and many other places at once. Players who opt in can get notified via email from developers and restrictions are there from stop abusing events tab.
RELATED: Mortal Kombat 11 Review-Bombed on Metacritic
What used to be a categories tool is now coming as collections feature to better organize your library and sort titles out with drag-and-drop function, genre, hardware support, play state, store tags and combination of other labels.
Whenever you purchase new games from Steam, they will be automatically added to your collection based on your set tags. Players can make a quick access to their preferred types and current groups will be changed into collections.
RELATED: Assassin's Creed Unity Positively Review-Bombed on Steam
Steam Lab program went live back in July and has an interactive recommender for highlighting games coming to the platform each month. One of their planned experiments will be ways of new discoverability to promote games.
Valve reached out to indie game developer Ichiro Lambe, who used to make six second-long micro trailers for Twitter and Steam will be interacting with players using micro trailers during search for all games instead of standard images.
RELATED: Octopath Traveler on PC Confirmed by Square Enix
Steam will be experiment with more features, filters and an infinite scrolling for search page to let people browse through its catalog. An application called Diving Bell would help you find new games without using your record of playing.
Valve is trying to make game discovery a fun experience so that people don't go through just rows of brand images in store. Therefore, most of these experimental features are planned to be added to Steam platform by the end of September.
As a leading digital distribution platform, online outlet Steam from Valve Corporation has been a top choice for PC players. Nevertheless, it is not surely the perfect store for consumers and can use some overhaul to increase its appeal.
Previously mock-up UI images of upcoming Steam library were accidentally leaked and people have waited long to see it as a reality. Finally, Valve has decided to roll out an open beta for Steam Library on September 17, 2019.
 |
| Steam Getting Library and Events Update |
RELATED: Hades Comes to Steam Early Access
During a close door media briefing before PAX West, the company talked about their future plans for both Steamworks and Steam Labs and various updates to come, planning to officially launch all of these on the same month.
For developers to communicate with their player base, a brand-new Steam Events tool is coming soon as well. From September 4 through 17, new experiment and search tool will arrive that are open for all players to try out.
RELATED: Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes PC and PS4 Release Date
Following latest update for Steam Library, players will have better tools to have their collection organized and keep up with newest updates. From games you are playing to what your friends are playing, all will be shown at new landing page.
Valve is employing their newest visual layout to help players decide what they might be interested to play next. There is a "What's New" section added to home page that shows related news and updates for games of your library.
RELATED: Final Fantasy VIII Remastered Announced
Developers can easily utilize this section to promote upcoming activity, free XP weekends or even for live tournaments by curating announcements for their titles to bring back players to an old game that have not played in a long time.
Although Valve has an event system for Steam already but it is next to be forgotten and doesn't work effectively. Developers can now set up new events that will automatically go live on a scheduled time for players to see.
 |
| Steam Library Redesigned Look |
RELATED: ARMA 3 Contact Expansion Announced
For a broader reach, localization support for other languages aside from English will be added. They can notify players in advance of any oncoming events and then whitelist approved accounts to stream using built-in broadcast support.
Once they create an announcement, it is easy to have them show up at community hub and many other places at once. Players who opt in can get notified via email from developers and restrictions are there from stop abusing events tab.
RELATED: Mortal Kombat 11 Review-Bombed on Metacritic
What used to be a categories tool is now coming as collections feature to better organize your library and sort titles out with drag-and-drop function, genre, hardware support, play state, store tags and combination of other labels.
Whenever you purchase new games from Steam, they will be automatically added to your collection based on your set tags. Players can make a quick access to their preferred types and current groups will be changed into collections.
 |
| Post-Game Summary Page |
RELATED: Assassin's Creed Unity Positively Review-Bombed on Steam
Steam Lab program went live back in July and has an interactive recommender for highlighting games coming to the platform each month. One of their planned experiments will be ways of new discoverability to promote games.
Valve reached out to indie game developer Ichiro Lambe, who used to make six second-long micro trailers for Twitter and Steam will be interacting with players using micro trailers during search for all games instead of standard images.
RELATED: Octopath Traveler on PC Confirmed by Square Enix
Steam will be experiment with more features, filters and an infinite scrolling for search page to let people browse through its catalog. An application called Diving Bell would help you find new games without using your record of playing.
Valve is trying to make game discovery a fun experience so that people don't go through just rows of brand images in store. Therefore, most of these experimental features are planned to be added to Steam platform by the end of September.
