Testing of new sections of the store has started on Steam. Now the entire catalog of games is divided into 63 categories — both genre and special, like adult-only content. All this is designed to simplify the search process and make it more flexible.The updated categories became available today as part of a new experiment in Steam Labs.
Every user can test the system and try out new sections.
What has changed?The biggest section in the new menu is “Genres”.
- It presents both the main categories of games and subgenres. For example, role-playing games are divided into bagels, role-playing actions, MMORPGs, etc.Another important entry point for the search is “Topics”.
- They determine what content is present in the game. For example, “Cosmos”, “Horror”, “Mysticism” or LGBTQ+.The section “Communication and players” divides projects depending on the number of players: single, multiplayer, cooperative, etc.
- Also, special sections appeared in the menu, previously representing separate menu items:
- “Programs”, “Early Access” or “Adults Only”.The latter category, for example, is available to all users who have the corresponding item enabled in their account settings.
- Inside, you can find exclusively games and parody projects of an erotic nature — for example, a clone of Among Us called Among Ass.Updated categories on Steam
Thus, Valve now allocates 48 genre categories, 8 thematic categories and 7 categories of player mode.
In theory, this will help to differentiate the search and ensure the display of a wider range of games.
In particular, the new system of sections will allow you to separate 18+ content from the rest of the projects in the store, since now such titles can also be found in the general search results.