New update coming to Steam features major improvements to Search

Steam logo
Steam logo (Image credit: Valve)

What you need to know

  • Valve is pushing out a new update from their preview Steam Labs program to the public.
  • The new update focuses on Search, with new tools such as tags and filtering.
  • The update should be rolling out right now to the general public.

Steam is the largest gaming platform and storefront on PC's by a long ways, so regular updates are important to keep everything ticking along smoothly. Today, Valve has announced that they're pushing out a new update that features a ton of quality-of-life improvements to Steam's Search tools. Valve hopes this will make it even easier to find the exact game players are looking for, and make looking for new games and content more accessible.

The update started out as part of a Steam Labs experiment, where Valve can safely test the new features and collect feedback. While the update is overall on the smaller side, there are a ton of smaller changes, including:

  • Narrow games down by price or sales offers.
  • Filter out by genre or type of game using tags.
  • Filter out games in a players wishlist or library.
  • Search for VR-only games or exclude them entirely.
  • Filter games by language support.
  • Infinite scroll for search results.

The update looks to be a much-welcomed improvement to Steam's aging Search, and Valve promises they're open to future development to further improve Steam. If you're interested in participating in the Steam Labs program, or reading Valve's full blog post, we have all the details here.

Do you feel these changes are enough of an update for Steam's Search tools, or was there more you wanted to see? Let us know in the comments below.

Zachary Boddy
Staff Writer

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.