Valve's latest Steam Labs experiment is an attempt to streamline the cumbersome process of navigating the personalized Discovery Queue system. The new experience makes the queue accessible without leaving the page you're on and removes redundant information, giving players an easily digestible summary of their recommendations.
Where the current Discovery Queue experience consists of loading a sequence of full Steam pages, this experimental feature tries to cut the fat and present users with a few key facts. The new system will appear as an overlay on your current page, displaying a single video, a brief description, and general user reviews. The most useful part of the current setup - data about why you're recommended a game - is also getting a more prominent position.
Valve promises further updates to the feature, including a "new queue view on the Steam homepage", the ability to start the queue from any page on Steam, Steam Deck gamepad UI support, and optimizations for mobile and tablet.
This feature is experimental for now, meaning Valve could ditch the whole thing like they did with the loved one who passed away Automatic Game Show, but I hope they keep it. The Steam Discovery Queue was one of Valve's earlier attempts to advance discoverability on its platform, but it was imperfect at the time and has only gotten more cracking as history progresses.
If you're anything like me, the Discovery Queue is a feature you use exactly four times a year. Every season sale, I dutifully click through a queue of 11 games once a day to get a trading card that I can sell for a few cents. At all other times, the Discovery Queue is a part of town I try to avoid; it's hard to get around and the residents keep trying to make me play The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story. I'd love it if the queue got the attention it needed to become a really useful way to find new games.
Curious users can contact the Steam Labs page and experience the magic for yourself.
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