Steam adjusts review system to display recent reviews

Steam has adjusted the display of game ratings. The platform now shows both a score of reviews made in the last 30 days and an overall score. The new system should give a fairer picture of the current status of games.

Previously, for games, Steam showed an average of all ratings given to a game by players. Games that contain a lot of bugs at the time of release, or that have other problems around the introduction, are often judged on this. Once the issues are resolved, those critiques may no longer be representative and the average score could be biased, Steam says.

Games now show two scores, an average of the past thirty days and an average of the total score. The new ‘recent’ score will be shown if a game has been on Steam for at least 45 days; there must be a certain number of ratings for the display. The total score remains the same and is unchanged from the old situation.

Also, Steam changes the order in which extensive written reviews are displayed. Recent reviews marked as helpful by other users are now ranked higher. With this measure, Steam also wants to create a fairer picture of the current status of games. Furthermore, Steam has added a checkbox that reviewers can check to indicate that they have been given the game for free to post a review.

The new review system on Steam shows a recent score and an overall score.