Valve summarizes Steam’s movements throughout 2023, a year that marks the 25th anniversary of the first Half-Life and coincides with Steam’s 20th anniversary. Steam’s activity is categorized into four sections: Store and Feature Updates, Steamworks Under-the-Hood Updates, Steam Deck, and Sales and Performance Data.
In the Store and Feature Updates section for 2023, the Steam team has made significant enhancements to the user experience and interface. This includes a major overhaul of the In-Game Overlay, a new Big Picture mode that resembles the UI of Steam Deck, improved shopping cart efficiency with features like multi-friend gifting and unified cart display across devices, and the ability to hide certain games as Private. Additionally, curated categories of pre-selected games will be available soon, along with support for the Indonesian language platform.
Moving on to Steamworks Under-the-Hood updates, while not directly impacting users, Valve emphasizes the importance of maintaining Steamworks as a crucial aspect of the platform. The team is focused on minor improvements to aid game developers in reaching customers, enhancing product quality, and achieving greater success.
As for Steam Deck, 2023 has been a tumultuous year with adjustments to SteamOS on Linux to optimize gaming performance. The introduction of the Steam Deck OLED represents a significant hardware upgrade for the platform. Other companies have also unveiled portable PC gaming products, offering users more options and prices for on-the-go PC gaming.
Sales and Performance Data analysis from Steam Charts has provided valuable insights into popular games, top GPUs, and user engagement. Noteworthy success includes an increase in seasonal game discounts, the first year with over 500 games generating over $3 million (including DLC and microtransactions), and a significant growth in participation in Steam Playtest and Early Access titles.
TLDR: Valve provides a thorough overview of Steam’s activities in 2023, showcasing updates to the Store and Features, improvements in Steamworks, development of the Steam Deck, and insights into sales and performance data. Major highlights include enhanced user experience, increased game sales, hardware upgrades, and significant player engagement.
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