Valve is said to be working on overhauling its Steam game distribution service by helping well-developed games gain more prominence, with poorly-developed titles set to be buried.
The news comes via YouTubers Jim Sterling and John “TotalBiscuit” Bain, who were invited to Valve’s offices to preview the changes.
According to two videos released by the pair, Valve will be recruiting “Steam Explorers,” who will be asked to play through various games and flag any that seem worthy of being highlighted.
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As games gain more flags, they’ll continually rise through the platform rankings and gain more prominence, while those games without flags will be left at the bottom of the pile.
It’s all designed to combat what Valve is reportedly calling “fake games” – titles that have been churned out in a rush to make the developers some money, or those that simply don’t work.
The new “Steam Explorers” will apparently be trawling through low-selling games to ensure quality titles aren’t overlooked and that the ‘fake games’ remain buried.
What’s more, it’s claimed any Steam user can sign up to become an Explorer, with a special forum being set up for those that do take on the roles.
The YouTubers also say Steam Curators will also be given more info about how their curations affect games’ sales, with the curation system set to receive an overhaul that will apparently add such new elements as embedded videos and top ten lists.
Elsewhere, regular Steam users are set to benefit from new features that will tell them why a particular game is being shown to them, as well as how many impressions that page gets, and more.
On top of all that, Valve is said to be overhauling its trading card system, in order to limit games that make money from percentages earned on card trades rather than sales.
It follows the news that Valve will be ditching its Greenlight submission program, which will be replaced by a new Steam Direct system.
The new system will require developers who want to get a game on the platform to register with Valve and pay a fee of between $100 and $5,000.
Let us know what you think of the reported plans in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.