Gaming expert Simon Carless tried to figure out how the New & Trending tab or “Popular New Items” on Steam works. We share his conclusions.
▪️New & Trending is a section for full—fledged releases, this does not include early access games. According to Carless’ estimates, it usually includes only 5-10% of the total number of new products every week.
▪️There are different lists with popular novelties in different countries. They are compiled in chronological order depending on the release date of the game: a new title occupies the first line, and then gradually drops in the list as other new products are released and interest is lost.
▪️Usually the game appears in New & Trending a few minutes after the release, if it passes the “interest check” by Steam algorithms.
Carless assumes that Steam algorithms take into account not the revenue of the game, but its starting metrics: peak online, traffic to the game page, the number of vishlist, downloads, etc. Another important criterion is good reviews. The game can be removed from the list of popular novelties if its rating drops to “mixed”.
▪️Often, major games are in New & Trending until they are pushed out of the top by the next ten new products. Small games from indie teams may leave the list earlier, as soon as they stop passing the “interest check”. But if the game starts meeting the Steam criteria again, it may come back.