Steam has rolled out a new system aimed at improving the quality of user reviews on its platform, potentially affecting the prevalence of sarcastic and brief comments.
In a recent platform update, Valve announced the beta release of a user review system designed to prioritize reviews based on their helpfulness in assisting others with purchasing decisions, relegating joke-based reviews further down the page.
The new system utilizes a combination of user reporting and machine learning algorithms to assess review quality, although it is still a work in progress. For instance, even short reviews containing valuable information may be inadvertently downgraded due to the algorithm’s limitations.
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Despite the changes, Steam maintains that users can still create humorous reviews, although these will be ranked lower on the game store page. According to a post about the update, reviews deemed unhelpful, such as one-word reviews, ASCII art, and meme-filled posts, will be placed behind more informative reviews.
Users have the option to disable the new helpfulness system by accessing the “Display” settings above each game’s user reviews. Alternatively, new reviews considered unhelpful can be reported.
Steam is also implementing stricter guidelines across its platform, including new regulations for store page descriptions and a crackdown on unrelated content. These updates align with Steam’s recent efforts to streamline features and enhance the user experience, such as the introduction of native Game Recording currently in beta.
