Summary
Steam’s UI has changed a ton over the years, but these changes have come in the form of smaller, more progressive changes. Now, Valve is rolling out a small but significant redesign to the storefront.
Steam is testing out a new design for its storefront. One of the most immediate changes is the consolidation of the store’s main navigation points. Previously, links were split between a vertical column on the left and a horizontal blue bar at the top. The new design merges these into a single, cohesive menu. The new menu bar is also designed to be less intrusive; while it is now present on more pages throughout the store, it automatically hides when a user scrolls down and reappears with a slight scroll up, keeping your eyes on the content.
Search functionality has received a substantial upgrade. The new search panel now provides more dynamic and useful information beyond a simple text field. It now has a neat “Popular Searches” feature, showing what other users are currently looking for, and a “Recently Viewed” list for quick access to previously visited game pages. The search function now also extends beyond game titles to include categories, tags, and even publishers. For those who need to perform more specific searches, a link to the advanced search page, with its array of filtering options, is now more prominently featured.
That’s not all. The new “Browse” tab centralizes popular methods for exploring the catalog, even if you don’t have a specific game in mind right now. It gives you direct access to lists sorted by top sellers, new releases, current discounts, and overall popularity. Similarly, the platform’s various recommendation systems have been grouped into a single “Recommendations” section—this hub brings together personalized suggestions based on your purchase history and playtime, as well as recommendations from friends and curators they follow.
Finally, the “Categories & Tags” tab has been transformed into a fully personalized section. Instead of a generic list, it now dynamically features hubs for genres and tags that are most relevant to your own individual gaming habits, based on the titles you play most often. This algorithmic approach is designed to help players dive deeper into niches they already enjoy and discover new games with similar attributes to the ones they’re used to.
It’s all pretty nice. This new interface is currently available for public testing in the latest Steam Client Beta, though I’m sure it will become available for all Steam users in due time if testing goes well.
