Valve Launches New Steam Game Library UI And It Looks Swank
Steam is trying to fight its way back to more profits as its game sales are on the decline. To help turn the tide, the Steam Library has been updated with a new beta that is available for anyone to download and try. Valve says that the new library home gives users quicker access to game updates, recently played games, friends' activity, and collections. The new library beta makes updates and events easier to find with a click on an event taking users to all recent updates for that game.
A new "Recent" shelf lets gamers pickup with the game they were last playing, and highlights games that were purchased recently. A large green button allows players to jump back into the action with a press. A friends' activity section enables users to see what friends have been up to and what games they are playing currently. One of the goals of that feature is to make it so that if friends are playing a game users don't have, that game is easier to find and buy.
The beta library also allows users to customize the home page however they want. The customization can highlight favorite collections or show all games; the user can choose. New game pages put everything for games in one place. Steam puts everything from the developer to friends and the community for a game in a single place to make it easier to keep up with what's happening.
The library beta is offering new ways to organize games, allowing quick exploration and easy ways to sort, hide, and feature games. The beta allows gamers to drag and drop games into collections on the fly. Starting a new collection can be done by dragging a game to the collections button. The Library beta also makes it easier for developers to host events and keep in touch with players via the store, the community page, and in the library. Steam recently released the discovery update to make finding new games easier.
Anyone can join the beta by following these steps:
- With Steam running, click on "Steam" in the upper left, then choose the "Settings" menu. (Preferences on Mac)
- On the "Account" tab under "Beta Participation" click the "Change..." button.
- Select the "Steam Beta Update" from the drop down list and click "OK".
- You will be prompted to restart Steam, please select the "Restart Steam" button.
Big Picture Mode users:
- Select 'Settings' then 'System'
- Check the ‘Participate in client beta’ option
- Follow the prompt to restart Steam
