Valve is giving a face lift and feature update

Imagine walking into a dense library with book-lined shelves and realizing that is not a single book is marked with a Dewey Decimal sticker. We give Steam a lot of love for its sales, but Valve has taken the same "Valve time" approach to update Steam that it has to releasing third parts of its games. Now, finally, Valve is giving Steam an overhaul that will update the look and offer some new functionality.

A Fresh Look

The most immediately obvious part of the update is the new look. Depending on where you stand it might be too new or not new enough. The Steam menu elements at the top of the app are identical to the current Steam look. The left-hand menu is largely the same, and more compact and streamlined.

The primary browsing window, however, takes inspiration from GMC Galaxy and the Epic Games Store. The "shelf" style layout is very popular, with everything you can currently playing.

Wait, Come Back

In addition to surfacing, Steam wants you to know what's happening in your games. The client will showcase new game updates, such as Valve says that it does not really make you feel like you're doing it. For these, Valve is working on developer tools that will help the people who make games get the word to people who play them.