Steam’s evaluate system has been up to date to indicate when the reviewer in query has spent most of their time with a recreation on a Steam Deck, relatively than a desktop PC or laptop computer. Following the change, if a Steam Deck participant posts a evaluate of a recreation on Steam, just a little Steam Deck icon will seem within the high proper nook of their evaluate.
Valve introduced the change by way of the official Steam Deck Twitter account, stating “We have simply delivery a brand new characteristic on Steam that exhibits when a buyer evaluate was written by somebody who performed totally on Steam Deck. Hold a watch out for the Deck icon to see how these gamers reviewed the sport.”
It is a small however smart change that replicate the rising diversification of how PC avid gamers play their video games. Whereas the change is probably going supposed to indicate Deck gamers whether or not or not the reviewer had fun with the sport on Valve’s handheld, it is also helpful context for desktop or laptop computer PC gamers. If a Deck participant complains about shoddy efficiency in a evaluate of some graphically intensive recreation, for instance, they know that is probably to not be reflective of their very own expertise. Likewise in the event that they complain in regards to the controls, or are reviewing a recreation that is not Deck Verified.
Good morning! We’ve simply shipped a brand new characteristic on Steam that exhibits when a buyer evaluate was written by somebody who performed totally on Steam Deck. Hold a watch out for the Deck icon to see how these gamers reviewed the sport, and tell us what you suppose! pic.twitter.com/RYVa9wVGYiAugust 22, 2024
That is the second notable change Valve has made to Steam evaluations this month. Final week, Steam launched a brand new ‘helpfulness’ system designed to spice up evaluations which are genuinely informative, whereas deprioritising evaluations it recognized as unhelpful. The latter class consists of “one-word evaluations, evaluations comprised of ASCII artwork, or evaluations which are primarily playful memes or in-jokes.” The helpfulness system would not take away such evaluations fully. It merely drops their rating beneath evaluations deemed really informative and insightful in regards to the recreation in query. Valve additionally included a option to revert evaluations to its unique rating system, in case you learn the evaluations for giggles as a lot as you do info.
With each these adjustments occurring so shut collectively, it seems Valve is within the means of reviewing its personal evaluations system proper now. Every change takes a logical step towards making the evaluate system higher match the aim for which it was supposed. They do not clear up each drawback the system has, corresponding to gamers utilizing it to review-bomb video games for causes which may not be reflective of stated recreation’s high quality, or the binary nature of suggestions, with many gamers requesting a “blended” score alongside a thumbs up or thumbs down. However they nonetheless appear to be enhancements total.
