Steam Enhances Review System to Promote Informative User Feedback

In an effort to enhance the usefulness of user reviews on its platform, Steam is implementing new changes. User feedback is a valuable resource for many PC gamers who rely on it to gauge the current condition of games. Since reviews can be modified at any stage of a game's life cycle, they often reflect the prevailing opinions about that title.

However, while browsing through reviews, many are dismissed because they consist of short, humorous remarks or creative ascii illustrations. To address this issue, Valve has introduced a fresh helpfulness system in a recent blog update.

Essentially, this system will evaluate comments deemed unhelpful for potential buyers, including one-word responses, ascii art submissions, or those dominated by light-hearted memes and insider jokes. As a result, these reviews will be moved further down the list on the game’s store page. Although players won't entirely miss these amusing but not particularly informative contributions, the intention is for them to be less visible when users seek genuine insights about a game.

The impact of this change on review-bombing remains uncertain. Many instances of review-bombing stem from insincere intentions, characterized by negativity, yet there have been situations where such actions were undertaken for a commendable purpose, as seen when Helldivers II aimed to restrict access to individuals lacking the PlayStation Network.

It will be fascinating to determine what qualifies as a helpful review moving forward; however, for those who disagree with this initiative, there is an option to disable the feature.