Steam Store Update Makes It Recommend Already Popular Games Less

In the shadows of TGS 2019, Steam underwent an update that now sees the digital storefront recommending already-popular titles to you less. This update implements various algorithmic changes and bug fixes to be "more precise and more diverse" in how Steam suggests games.

The platform detailed how these changes work and the results of a conducted experiment in a blog post. Steam alleges that, after making changes to how games are recommended via the Recommendation Feed and tags, it saw an increase of almost 15 percent in customer engagement. Further, Steam notes a 75 percent increase in the number of unique games visited and a 48 percent increase in the average visits per game. Other areas of the storefront saw increases in purchase and wishlisting across a broader set of games following the implementation of the update.

These changes come after feedback regarding how biased players thought Steam was to top-rated games, a category the platform recognizes "doesn't change very often." To combat this, Steam scrubbed through various sections and tags--like "More Like This," "Recommended for You," "Similar by Tags," and others--for bugs that impacted discoverability and visibility. All of this was to ensure Steam was "showing [you] a diverse set of games while keeping the games relevant to [you]." After testing the update on a small portion of the community for the past few weeks, Steam reports these changes have been "promising." The update is now available to all Steam users.

This new Steam store update follows the announcement of the platform's long-awaited library overhaul release date, which is slated to go into open beta on September 17. Steam's library redesign introduces two key changes: a new color palette and user interface, and Events that highlight patches and in-game events.