The new Steam store is here!

Published: September 23, 2014 2:00 PM /

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steam new store TR

To the surprise of some, Valve has redesigned the Steam storefront! The update adds plenty of new features, and they're all described after the break! 

The biggest change to the store is how it looks - the store has received a complete visual overhaul, and is now completely made up of varying shades of blue. It can be expected that the Steam client will soon change again to fit this style.

Moving on to new features, there's now a discovery queue, similar to how Steam Greenlight functions. You are given 12 games, and you can choose to follow a game and receive updates about it on your activity page, add it to your wishlist, or simply say you're not interested.

steam discovery

It's now possible to customize the boxes on the homepage, such as the featured carousel, "new on Steam" section, and the recently updated section. Items that are already owned on your account are dulled out, and have a tag on them that mentions you own them. You can choose to remove them from the page, too. Games that are on your wishlist are not dulled out, but have a similar wishlist tag.

steam recently updated

Browsing by genre is now browsing by tags, and you can continue to narrow down your searches with even more tags. For example, action can be combined with adventure, singleplayer, and RPG. The system works seamlessly, and doesn't require constant page reloading. You can also browse featured games on the tag pages by clicking on 3D tiles, which is similar to how Steam's big picture mode functions. However, the tile system currently does not change with added tags.

3d game browsing pic2

Store pages have also received some new functions, such as the follow, wishlist, and not interested buttons from the queue appearing on every store page. DRM is also highlighted below the game's specifications (such as controller support and trading cards), and also if the game requires the player to agree to a third-party license. Below the game's main image and description, user review statistics are also listed. For example, if a game receives 90% or more positive reviews, it will be marked as having an overwhelmingly positive review score. You can hover over the review text to receive more precise statistics.

steam drm and EULA

The final major change is the Steam curator system. The curator system allows any user to create a group that suggests games to other people. Curators are able to link to other website for full reviews, such as Youtube or a blog. This makes the system particularly handy for video reviewers, more in-depth reviews that use images, or gaming websites. People following the curator will receive notifications of new reviews, using the same system for when a friend reviews a game.

Steam store curators

This new store has a focus on finding information that often got lost before, and finding new games - it's certainly a new era for Steam. We can most likely expect these changes applied to user profiles and the activity page soon enough!

To find out more about the new store, click here!

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The name's Andrew! I'm a contributor for Tech Raptor who enjoys writing about tech. I mostly cover Microsoft news, but I also enjoy video games. (… More about Andrew