Summary
Steamusers who have long struggled to sift through thousands of unhelpful reviews are in luck because it looks like Valve is attempting to streamline the system. As useful as many reviews on Steam’s digital storefront can be,the vast majority are copy-pasted memes or provide little insight into the experience. Optimizing the curation approach to highlight user reviews that provide valuable information on a product would make the Store a much more valuable place for consumers who care about the quality of their games.
Auseron the Steam subreddit observed thatValve is seemingly testing a new setting that allows reviews to be sorted with a “helpfulness system.“This filter will only apply to the “Summary” and “Most Helpful” views but it should help eliminate any feedback that doesn’t provide meaningful observations about the game in question.
It’s worth noting that shortly after a screenshot of the helpfulness system was shared online,the option was removed from Steam, suggesting that the change is real but simply not ready to be rolled out on a large scale.
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The implementation of a helpfulness system for Steam’s user reviews could be a major point of growthfor the storefront given that moderation has always been difficult given the size of the marketplace. User reviews have a major impact on the success or failure of a game with most releases vying forthe coveted title of “Overwhelmingly Positive.“That in itself is a decent shorthand for the kind of quality a consumer can expect, but having a thorough breakdown of positives and negatives can often make or break a sale.
When Valve intends on releasing the helpfulness system remains unknown but it’s just one of several projects in development at the company. Having worked on establishingSteam as a dominant force in the world of PC gaming, Valve is seemingly returning to its roots by developing a handful of new games.Several leaks have confirmed that the in-house development team is working on a new hero shooter titledDeadlockwhilereports ofHalf-Life 3’s long-rumored existencehave recently been reignited.
Whether or not Valve intends to overhaul the user reviews section onSteamis unknown but the helpfulness system isa step in the right direction.Removing clutter from the reviews tab will go a long way to improving a game’s visibilityin the eyes of consumers and could prove useful for many smaller developers. One just has to hope that the improvement arrives sooner rather than later.
