I thoughtSteamwas supposed to be the best digital games storefront in the world. I still believe it is, but it takes gold only because its competitors keep tripping up over their untied laces rather than through any skill of its own.
The layout is fine, it loads quickly, and it hosts hundreds of thousands of games. Compare that to, say, Ubisoft Connect, which runs poorly, offers a handful of games that you probably already own elsewhere, and serves you more adverts than halftime at the Superbowl. Steam looks like heaven in comparison. Maligned as it is, even theEpic Games Storeis alright in comparison to the likes of EA and Riot’s offerings.
The real best games storefront is Itch.io, but that’s a conversation for another time.
It’s because of Steam’s status as the go-to digital storefront that I expect big things from it. Not huge, unreasonable expectations, but things like telling me that games I’ve wishlisted are on offer (check) and serving me recommendations of games that I might like (uncheck). This is where Steam fails spectacularly. Let’s start by going through my queue.
I play a lot of games, and enjoy a wide variety of genres.Apex Legendsis my most-played game of all time, but I equally love a quirky indie. Anything science-fiction or fantasy will draw me in, while anything with a semblance of horror will turn me off. With that said, let’s explore what Steam thinks I would like.
The first game on my queue is Content Warning, a spooky YouTuber simulator where you try to film the scariest things to go viral. Its cute aesthetic probably steers it away from the horror label, but what on earth have I played that makes Steam think I’ll like this?Warhammer 40,000: Darktideand Outer Wilds, apparently. Those are bold comparisons to make, but I think Steam has pushed this to me because of its sudden popularity – six of my friends have bought it since it was released a few days ago – more than because it thinksI’lllike it.
Pixel Gun 3D has been recommended because of my FPS playtime, but Steam knows I’m 29 years old, so it could go out on a limb and maybe work out that I don’t want to play a Minecraft derivative. Pixel Gun has mixed reviews since it came out this week, and I think Steam is once again pushing new releases to the forefront of my recommendations over genuine gems that fit my gaming profile.
Next up isWWE 2K24, recommended because I played a few hours of eFootball. While I love wrestling, something Steam has done well to deduce (or happened upon by pure chance), I haven’t played a wrestling game of this ilk in decades, and don’t mean to start now. It’s a no from me, but Steam is getting closer.
I have never played a game similar to Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and I probably never will. I know it’s a fantasy RPG, but I lean more towards Western designs when it comes to the genre. I fell offFinal Fantasy 7 Remakebecause of the combat, and if that doesn’t hit for me, what will? Next.
Arma Reforger was suggested to me because I like FPS games, but Steam doesn’t even namedrop Apex here, as it knows this is a completely different kettle of fish. I’ve never played Call of Duty on Steam, so this recommendation is completely out of the blue. In fact, why didn’t Steam just recommend the far more popular series, instead of this Cold War combat simulator with mixed reviews? I don’t understand the algorithm, and the algorithm clearly doesn’t understand me.
Next up is an incredibly graphic ‘adult only’ murder mystery slash intercourse simulator called The Genesis Order. I’m not telling on myself here, the only reason Steam has recommended this hardcore rutting is because I’ve played other third-person games. Now I need to wash my eyes.
It’s incredibly difficult to get a SFW screenshot of this Steam page, so you’ll have to settle for proof that I’ve not played any other games like it.
Slice & Dice is immediately more my thing, but roguelikes are hit and miss for me. I love Balatro and Hades – and the pixel art of Slice & Dice immediately draws me to it – but have fallen off countless others. This is a maybe, but it has a demo so I’ll give it a try. Thanks, Steam!
I’ll whizz through some others, but Steam kept recommending duds that are nothing like my tastes. Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor because I like sci-fi, Godsworn because I like single-player games (but rarely RTSes), BlazBlue Entropy Effect because I like action, Minishoot Adventures because I like action again, and Gray Zone Warfare because I played PUBG.
Out of 12 games in my queue, that Steam has carefully analysed based on my play habits, I wishlisted just one, and even then it was a maybe. So what’s the problem? There are a few clear issues here.
One, I don’t play all my games on Steam. Steam, naturally, doesn’t take into account that I’ve been playingPrince of Persia: The Lost Crownover on Epic (despitefiddling to make it work on my Steam Deck, sorry Gaben). It doesn’t know that my past month has been consumed byYakuza: Like a DragonandDragon’s Dogma 2on Xbox. It doesn’t know that I’ve beencranking my Playdateall week.
But it should know a little better. My most recent Steam games are Apex – which did spawn some recommendations, but poor ones –Helldivers 2, which I guess is responsible for that graphic murder mystery,Death of a Wish, andBalatro. Before that, it gets even more esoteric, with A Highland Song,Times & Galaxy, Helskate, and theHarold Halibut demooccupying my gaming time. So why isn’t Steam recommending quirky indies?
For one, its genres are too broad. Because I’ve played an ‘action’ game, I was recommended an anime roguelike, a twin-stick shooter, and a Minecraft-inspired FPS. None of these games are similar to each other, or really to what I’ve played. I can see where the parallels have been drawn, but Steam is stretching, and I expect its algorithm to do better. I want to play games, I want to find new games, and yet Steam doesn’t seem to have taken any of thedozens of Next Fest demosI picked up into account.
Steam prides itself on discoverability, but I can’t even discover games when I’m actively trying to. I’d be annoyed if I was a dev of a cool indie RPG, as Steam seems to care more about pushing new games to its audience than ones that actually might tickle the fancy of its players. Four games recommended were released in the last week, and just one wasn’t released in the past two months. Steam prioritises how new a game is over anything else in its recommendations, but that clearly doesn’t work. I just want something new to play, Steam, so can you plug my data into a better algorithm already?
