Today I read an article from RPS that claims that Valve has made it harder to find new releases. To quote the article:
This tickled me a bit, as it's always been quite easy.
For the record, I'm a regular RPS reader and I consider myself, usually, a fan of their articles.
Want to find new releases on Steam? You can do it in two simple clicks. First, click "Games" on the navbar or hover over it to find the SteamOS + Linux section:
Once you click on that, do a rather small scroll downwards to see this:
That's really all there is to it. The direct link for SteamOS + Linux newly releases games is here.
I'm genuinely surprised that a writer of such a well established gaming news website seemed to have no idea you could do this, since it has been there for a number of years. However, the author of that linked article does make a good point, which is that Steam's UI is pretty bad at the best of times. I also agree that new releases need a prominent link on the homepage and not hidden away, even if it is stupidly easy to find.
Steam isn't alone in this though, as itch.io also requires a few clicks to get to the newest games. You need to click "All Games" at the top and then "Recently Added" on itch.io. For clarity, the latest Linux games on itch.io can be found here, still very easy to find though. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
John WalkerIn an apparent ongoing battle to hide every unknown new game released on Steam, overnight Valve have updated the Steam store to make it far, far harder to just see a list of new releases on the platform.
This tickled me a bit, as it's always been quite easy.
For the record, I'm a regular RPS reader and I consider myself, usually, a fan of their articles.
Want to find new releases on Steam? You can do it in two simple clicks. First, click "Games" on the navbar or hover over it to find the SteamOS + Linux section:
Once you click on that, do a rather small scroll downwards to see this:
That's really all there is to it. The direct link for SteamOS + Linux newly releases games is here.
I'm genuinely surprised that a writer of such a well established gaming news website seemed to have no idea you could do this, since it has been there for a number of years. However, the author of that linked article does make a good point, which is that Steam's UI is pretty bad at the best of times. I also agree that new releases need a prominent link on the homepage and not hidden away, even if it is stupidly easy to find.
Steam isn't alone in this though, as itch.io also requires a few clicks to get to the newest games. You need to click "All Games" at the top and then "Recently Added" on itch.io. For clarity, the latest Linux games on itch.io can be found here, still very easy to find though. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
but unfortunately this shows new games, and filters Linux support. There is no known way to show new games on Linux. For a example Civ6 is not new game but is new on Linux. So no good automated tool. Best way so far to see important games new on linux is seeing articles on gamingonlinux.com...
Last edited by lucinos on 15 February 2017 at 12:11 pm UTC
Last edited by lucinos on 15 February 2017 at 12:11 pm UTC
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Quoting: lucinosbut unfortunately this shows new games, and filters Linux support. There is no known way to show new games on Linux. For a example Civ6 is not new game but is new on Linux. So no good automated tool. Best way so far to see important games new on linux is seeing articles on gamingonlinux.com...It will show you new games on Linux, if they had day-1 support. Valve used to manually add-in new games that added Linux support later, but they stopped doing that. They do need better filtering in general, so hopefully it's on their list. Until then, we are here!
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Quoting: liamdaweValve used to manually add-in new games that added Linux support later, but they stopped doing that.
What they (very obviously) should do, is keeping separate release dates for every platform. I can not understand why they do not do that...
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Quoting: lucinosI imagine it's a case of that part of the store filtering not being designed with multiple platforms in mind, it's likely in need of some upgrades.Quoting: liamdaweValve used to manually add-in new games that added Linux support later, but they stopped doing that.
What they (very obviously) should do, is keeping separate release dates for every platform. I can not understand why they do not do that...
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hardpenguin Feb 15, 2017
No offense, Liam, but if the problem doesn't affect you, don't assume it does not exist :)
What RPS editor meant is probably that the discoverability of small indie games with no dedicated marketing push is much lower now. And to be honest, I think that's true. It's about browsing the store in search of information, or having the same information visible straight on the main page. The thing is, before Steam started increasing the amount of games they accept to their store, the information about all new releases was accessible from the main page. Valve replaced it in favour of increasing the visibility of anything that sells right now. That surely is good for their business, but bad for small indiedevs that are being buried under tens of more popular games, and that's what the RPS article was about.
What RPS editor meant is probably that the discoverability of small indie games with no dedicated marketing push is much lower now. And to be honest, I think that's true. It's about browsing the store in search of information, or having the same information visible straight on the main page. The thing is, before Steam started increasing the amount of games they accept to their store, the information about all new releases was accessible from the main page. Valve replaced it in favour of increasing the visibility of anything that sells right now. That surely is good for their business, but bad for small indiedevs that are being buried under tens of more popular games, and that's what the RPS article was about.
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Quoting: hardpenguinNo offense, Liam, but if the problem doesn't affect you, don't assume it does not exist :)Well, I did specifically state very clearly that the author has a good point about the Steam UI. I also clearly noted I believe Valve need a clear link to the new release section on the homepage. I am well aware of the issues, as noted in the article.
The author's main issue was not about discoverability of small indie games, the main issue was how to get to the newly released list.
Edit: Cleared up what I meant.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 15 February 2017 at 2:41 pm UTC
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hardpenguin Feb 15, 2017
Quoting: liamdaweAnd no, the author did not mean discoverability of small indie games, they were very clearly outright complaining about how to get to the new releases section.
"(...) unknown games have an incredibly hard time receiving any visibility in Steam’s crazed daily churn of 20 to 30 new releases"
"Big names, or those that see instant sales, get promoted to the big boxes on the front page, but smaller games are relegated to a hidden list that just became a whole lot more hidden."
"(...) it definitely hasn’t listed any of the tiny little games I’ve cared about the most"
"Give small developers a fighting chance (...)"
Source: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/02/15/steam-new-releases/
Okay.
Last edited by hardpenguin on 15 February 2017 at 2:35 pm UTC
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That's one small part of the article, and yet again, I did outright state I agree with the issue at hand. The meat of their article was complaining about where the link is, and again, I agree. No need for the pedantic stuff here :)
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Mountain Man Feb 15, 2017
Unfortunately, this is a result of there being no standardized way to design a digital storefront. There is a learning curve for every website, so it doesn't surprise me that someone might miss what seems obvious to someone else.
Last edited by Mountain Man on 15 February 2017 at 2:51 pm UTC
Last edited by Mountain Man on 15 February 2017 at 2:51 pm UTC
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