9 huge issues Steam wants to enhance in 2026
Steam‘s grip on the PC gaming market is simple – the truth is, 72% of builders suppose it has a useful monopoly. As Larian publishing director Michael Douse put it, “It is virtually as if it is not offering a shit service”. The Epic Video games Retailer, the Xbox App, Ubisoft Join, the EA App (why does each writer have an app?), none of those platforms come wherever near matching Steam’s typically stellar expertise.
That being stated, a scarcity of actual competitors is the basis of complacency, and I for one wish to see Steam proceed to enhance, particularly because it invades the lounge with its second and way more promising try on the Steam Machine.
Extra detailed choices for Steam evaluations
Scott Tanner, Senior Video Producer: It’s foolish that Steam evaluations are distilled right into a binary thumbs-up/thumbs-down alternative. There are many video games I might suggest with main caveats, or ones I’d warn folks of that also have redeeming qualities. And that’s with out those that go away me completely ambivalent. A five-star ranking system, or non-obligatory scores for particular attributes like graphics, gameplay, and accessibility, can be massively helpful for the patron.
I’m not alone in wanting this both. We interviewed Felipe Falanghe, certainly one of Kerbal Area Program’s devs final 12 months at GDC and he advocated for precisely the identical factor. “For me, that’s my main line of suggestions to know what folks take into consideration the sport,” he stated, “and it simply type of sucks that the great and unhealthy binary alternative that we get have the identical weight if you happen to completely hate the sport and suppose it’s the worst factor ever, or if you happen to simply suppose it’s not all the way in which there but. Like, that’s the identical button.”
Rory Norris, Guides Author: One of many issues that bugs me to no finish about Steam evaluations is you can’t see gamers’ system specs, so I might additionally prefer to see this data added to the shop web page. Stuff like graphics card, CPU, and RAM may very well be optionally connected to person’s evaluations, so it is no further work for gamers. I say optionally as a result of some gamers may not need to embrace their specs, and that is positive.
Nonetheless, if I see a overview that mentions efficiency, whether or not optimistic or destructive, I instantly need to know if I can count on comparable outcomes alone machine. Except the person handily lists their machine’s specs of their very own volition within the overview itself (most do not), you’ve got received little context. In spite of everything, system necessities given by builders aren’t at all times spot on, so conveniently attaching this information in evaluations would save me a number of heartache and/or analysis.
Hell, it might doubtlessly even assist builders keep away from some pointless destructive scores the place efficiency woes are unjust, if the Steam reviewer in query is severely beneath the system necessities.
Retailer web page upgrades
Kara Phillips, Evergreen Author: I am sick to dying of getting an e mail each single time a recreation from my wishlist goes on sale, however I do discover myself curious as to how a lot the worth of sure video games has diverse throughout totally different occasions.
Including one thing like a value tracker (akin to SteamDB’s) might enable customers to be way more knowledgeable when shopping for. Everybody needs to avoid wasting pennies once they can, and this would definitely make it simpler.
Rory Norris, Guides Author: Talking of saving you clicks from visiting out-of-Steam assets like SteamDB, there’s one other retailer characteristic I might prefer to see ‘borrowed’, and it is from the Xbox PC App of all locations.
I hate the Xbox App, particularly now that it is determined to clog up my library with every part from each different platform I’ve in opposition to my will. I actually solely use it for a handful of Recreation Go video games, Microsoft, I am not enjoying my Steam video games in your clunky platform even if you happen to take them hostage.
With that being stated, this shoddy storefront does have one factor up its sleeve: HowLongToBeat integration. Mainly, it makes use of HowLongToBeat’s information to inform you…how lengthy it takes to beat key playstyles in video games, like b-lining the primary story, a mean playthrough, and a completionist run.
I do not usually pay an excessive amount of consideration to how lengthy a recreation is (any Murderer’s Creed will present you measurement would not equal worth), nevertheless it’s useful to have an concept of whether or not the sport you are considering is a 100-hour epic or a brief however candy 5 hours.
A at the moment enjoying part within the library
Lauren Morton, Lead search engine marketing Editor: I already wrote about how I feel that ebook monitoring apps ought to be taught from Steam however possibly Steam might be taught just a bit bit from the Goodreads and Storygraphs of my life too. What they have that we do not is somewhat part on the high of your dashboard to trace what you are at the moment studying and your present completion progress.
My time with a recreation is not at all times as linear as studying a ebook entrance to again, certain. I imply, am I ever not at the moment enjoying Stardew Valley? I already form of mimic this by conserving my “current video games” shelf on the high so I can shortly entry no matter I put down final. It could be cool to have somewhat “at the moment enjoying” toggle and devoted shelf within the library to make it really feel somewhat extra particular. Perhaps it might present achievement p.c completion and hours performed to this point or one thing. I need my Steam library to really feel extra like my very own command middle and fewer like only a huge database.
Achievement classes for streamlined 100%
Rory Norris, Guides Author: Whereas I am a completionist within the sense that I like to gather each merchandise and do each exercise in a recreation, I’ve by no means been too bothered about ticking off all of the achievements. Why? As a result of it is a hell of a number of effort that I am unable to be arsed to undergo, so I really feel the plight of those that are as much as the problem.
Steam already has a reasonably strong achievement system—I like that it exhibits you the proportion of gamers which have accomplished any given problem—however it’s kind of of a multitude.
Sadly, base recreation and DLC achievements are at the moment clumped collectively on Steam, so it is inconceivable to 100% sure titles if they’ve enlargement challenges. For instance, if you wish to 100% The Witcher 3 at present, you might want to full the achievements for the bottom recreation and its two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. For those who do not personal enlargement content material for any given recreation, then you definitely’re out of luck.
One factor PlayStation does very nicely is creating sub-sections for later content material additions, so you possibly can 100% the bottom recreation and expansions individually. Something to make the arduous process any simpler is a plus in my ebook.
A greater technique to scoop up unowned DLC
Jake Tucker, Editorial Director, PC Gaming Present: Typically after I come again to a recreation after a very long time away, I will duck into the shop web page to see if there’s any good DLC. Sadly this typically means navigating nonsense beauty DLCs or understanding what I already personal from the myriad of bundles first. Steam including a method for me to seize the large DLCs simply would imply I might spend much less time shopping for and extra time enjoying.
Higher mod assist
Joshua Wolens, Information Author: Again when Steam Workshop was launched, someday simply after the dinosaurs went extinct, I had unimaginable visions of the brilliant future it promised.
Not would any set up of a Bethesda recreation be adopted, inevitably, by a number of hours of modding. Not would I’ve to maintain tabs on 10,000 totally different mods on 1,000 totally different websites for 100 totally different video games to see once they received very important updates, or in the event that they received supplanted by a brand new, higher venture. Steam was gonna deal with all of it for me, slotting every part into place similtaneously it downloaded every part else, and conserving all of it spick and span within the background.
Effectively, it did not work like that. The Workshop is, , positive, however even the current(ish) addition of load orders did not actually carry it as much as tempo with options provided by mod organisers like, uh, Mod Organizer. Neither is it as extensively adopted as I might like—which is admittedly extra on devs and publishers than Valve.
I might like to see the Workshop get some love in 2026, and notably, I might like to see it grafted onto extra outdated video games. If I might obtain New Vegas and have it routinely set up the most recent and best fan patches? I might be a contented man.
Extra wishlist controls
Rory Norris, Guides Author: Ahh, your Steam wishlist. Within the early days of your account, I am certain you truly used this as a procuring record for all of the video games you have been planning on getting once they have been launched or on sale.
After years of including video games to a single record and little in the way in which of organising it, my wishlist is now a dumping floor that does not serve its goal. Certain, I might undergo the 414 video games (fairly small in comparison with most customers, I reckon), vetting them one after the other, however I am not going to—and no, you would not do this both.
Taking a web page out of Steam’s personal wonderful recreation library organisation, it is excessive time we have been in a position to create separate collections and even a number of wishlists to accommodate particular sorts of video games. Maybe I desire a wishlist devoted to video games I am truly going to purchase after I can afford to, and one other for video games that I simply suppose look neat however most likely will not ever get round to.
SteamOS for each PC
Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor: Sufficient speak about placing issues in Steam. Let’s speak about placing Steam on issues. For the reason that arrival of the Steam Deck, we have been eagerly awaiting the day Valve releases SteamOS as a full-on Linux distro that any PC gamer can set up on their desktop. And, nicely, we’re nonetheless ready.
SteamOS has improved enormously over the past couple of years and added assist for 1000’s extra video games, however progress on the {hardware} and driver entrance has been slower. Proper now it is simply the Steam Deck and the Legion Go, with the ROG Ally and “different AMD-powered handhelds” listed as having beta assist.
However with the desktop (or lounge) Steam Machine arriving this 12 months, I need to see SteamOS out there for computer systems full-stop, too. Meaning driver assist for Nvidia graphics playing cards and Intel CPUs and different diverse {hardware}, a clean set up course of, and so forth. Proper now, PC avid gamers who need to ditch Home windows are largely putting in Bazzite in lieu of SteamOS; Bazzite is nice, and as PC Gamer’s Joshua Wolens has already passionately argued, you should not be afraid to put in it in your PC proper now. However lots of people will nonetheless be afraid to enterprise off into community-led Linux land. “Simply set up SteamOS” is the least scary I can think about Linux sounding to them as a Home windows various.
SteamOS is actually good now—time to complete the job Gabe Newell began 14 years in the past.
Gabe yacht tracker
Tyler Wilde, US EIC: If PC gaming goes to have an ultra-rich baron of the deep seas, I feel we must always get frequent updates on what he is discovering down there.