Steam Visibility: How Games Get Surfaced to Players

This video focuses on how Steam works to connect players with games they are likely to enjoy. Learn about the discovery mechanisms at work behind the scenes on Steam, which inputs matter, and how Valve approaches the operation of a PC platform where any kind of game can find its audience.

[Thebitbeard]

This kind of transparency is great to see, and important. Without it, rumors and false information will dominate the discussion. I think there's a very valid reason Steam is the market leader in PC gaming, and this video highlights part of why.

[Simte]

Most storefronts are quite secretive by nature, how great is they are willing to share this information. True openness of PC gaming we are so accustomed to.

[ZeroEscape]

man day after day I really appreciate the existence of Valve and Steam in the PC space

[MenacingMecha]

Any details on how review counts are factored in to the algorithm? It's one of the most commonly shared pieces of advice in the indie space, and was surprised to not see it mentioned here.

[Guttabee]

Valve is one of those rare game companies that seem to have held onto their soul after getting big.

[Indie-Wolverine]

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Intro
01:29 - Steam doesn’t sell advertising or placement
02:52 - How Steam figures out what to show players
03:25 - Which parts of Steam are curated vs algorithmic
04:11 - Featured & Recommended is algorithmic
04:55 - Special Offers is curated
05:52 - Your Discovery Queue is algorithmic
06:01 - Recommended Based on the Games You Play is algorithmic
06:15 - Curator Recommendations is algorithmic
06:28 - From Developers & Publishers That You Know is algorithmic
06:36 - Popular VR Games is algorithmic
06:44 - New & Trending, Top Sellers, Popular Upcoming & Specials tabs
07:07 - New & Trending breakdown
07:54 - Top Sellers breakdown
09:04 - Popular Upcoming breakdown
09:27 - Specials breakdown
09:40 - Steam algorithms
11:43 - Tags are important!
12:52 - How the Main Capsule is personalized to each player
13:40 - Content hubs
14:35 - Player interest drives visibility
15:33 - Curated featuring is earned with player interest
16:35 - Ways to make your game appeal to a broad audience
17:29 - Demystifying what drives algo visibility on Steam
23:53 - Ways to build momentum for your game on Steam
24:17 - Focus energy around big events

[nemtudom]

Thank you for sharing this information with the community Valve!

Love ya!

Im not even a developer but i love knowing how things work behind the scenes, i love this

[FranciscoSciaraffia]

Thank you very much for this video, helps a ton to understand better how the system works :D

[ControllerLyfe]

Love the philosophy in the beginning 👏

[Dynamonic]

Great, insightful video into Steam! I'm loving this new 'open' Valve we've been getting recently!

[shoumjusteshoum]

Genuinely great to see the long-time aphasic Valve making a full recovery. Transparency is always the healthier choice in this business. Keep going! ^^

[thomasdeutelmoser]

A damn incredible video for a developer, thank you very much

[noyesyesnonoyes]

Really appreciate everything you guys do for your customers.

[mobilemarshall]

thanks for providing more clarity on this

[johnsnow]

greatly appreciated. I'd like to see these kind of videos more often

[nyraal]

Great video, thanks for putting this out there!

[TopMeadowInc]

Great video! Really nice to get a sense of how the black box of visibility works on Steam

[francescoc]

We really appreciate this dive in the store inner workings!

[PieterVanMeerbeeck]

nice video, I am concerned however with the slide during 14:52, isn't this unfair for cheap games that have no replayability? like puzzle games that you only play ones (ex: outer wilds)?

[Robertganca]

For the reviews affecting visibility, you didn’t mention what effect if any, there is if a game doesn’t get enough reviews to get a score.