Earlier today, Steam released details about an important store update on their blog in regards to the store algorithm and direct fees.
Prior to their blog update, Steam was debating on how much the direct fee should be for developers to publish a game. Speculation for the direct fee ranged from $100-$5000 with Steam hovering around the $500 mark. However, community conversation challenged them as to ask themselves why the fee couldn’t be made as low as possible.
In an effort to improve the Steam Store experience for both players and developers, they announced changes being made in the Store’s algorithms. Here’s what they decided for both the direct fee and algorithm improvements:
- Steam decided to to make the direct fee as low as possible with a $100 recoupable fee per game.
- They are going to improve the Store algorithm by working on features and watching over the algorithm to ensure everything is working as intended and that players can see games that match their interests.
- They will closely monitor game submissions to readily implement more features in order to reduce financial incentives from those who manipulate the store algorithm for their own benefit.
- They plan to update Steam Curators by expanding the content that Curators can make, such as allowing them to share more information to players who are thinking of buying a game.
That’s the general sum of it. For more detailed information about their plans, you can visit the Steam blog.
What do you think about update; will it help both developers and players, or is it still lacking more features? Comment below with your opinions!
