There have already been more new games released on Steam in 2014 than there were in all of 2013. And it's only May.


By itself, and on principle, this isn't a problem. The more games available, the better.

But - and this ties directly into something I was talking about last week - it's a massive problem when you consider the way Steam currently operates.


The Gamasutra report highlighting the numbers explains why this is a bad thing:

What this means is that, while in 2013 your new release might have shown up on the front page of Steam for a few days, you're likely to see your game drop off the front page within 24 hours of you releasing it. (And notably, the front page of Steam now automatically defaults to "Top Sellers" instead of "New Releases.")

This hurts developers (well, indie devs, which compromise most new releases anyway), but it also hurts gamers, since if you don't log into Steam for a few days you're likely to have missed most games "time in the sun" unless you start digging (and while it's easy to say that's easy, most people simply don't do it).


I said it in my earlier rant, and I'll say it again here: Steam's store needs a redesign. Apple and Google have a far greater problem with a flood of new releases, but their approach to managing it - by highlighting a number of games across a number of categories, from new titles to genre showcases to quality, curated selections - is infinitely more successful.

More games have released on Steam so far in 2014 than all of last year [Gamasutra]