PC gaming platform Steam is getting a long-overdue visual overhaul soon, starting with its Library. While a public beta test of the new look should be open in a couple of weeks, the folks over at Valve have provided the community with a first look at the changes and what to expect.
With the new layout and design of the Library page of the Steam app, it’s apparent that Valve wants to do away with its robust, yet dated, utilitarian layout for something more modern and visually pleasing. As shown in the screenshots by Valve, Steam will be trading up it’s older, smaller, and honestly more practical layout for something more visually appealing and involving larger virtual box art taking up “shelves” in your game library.
While Steam has been long overdue for a makeover, many people in the Steam community have expressed their dissatisfaction at the changes. The new look is definitely more “modern” than the previous layout, but the new Library page is the spitting image of almost every other “games launcher” out there. Steam was unique with its small capsule images and its capacity to display plenty of information at a glance, but the new layout makes it look and feel almost exactly like every other launcher in the industry - i.e. the ones that were trying to copy Steam in the first place. The new Library page is indeed very similar to the library pages of Uplay, GOG Games, Epic Games Launcher, and more.
Hopefully, the changes that Steam have in store aren’t all visual or aesthetic. Beloved as it may be, fans have been clamoring for better performance and stability improvements on Steam, especially with how the application should be optimized as not to eat up CPU power everytime Socials come up.
What do you think about the upcoming visual changes to the Steam Library? Do you think it’s a step in the right direction, bringing our tried-and-trusted, but dated, games launcher to a more modern appeal? Or do you think it’s a step in the wrong direction, and that Steam should differentiate itself as much as possible from all the other game launchers that want nothing more than to be the next big thing?
