Breaking: New 9 Big Things Steam Needs To Improve In 2026

Hey Steam, we know you don't have much competition, but there's still a lot you should do.

Steam's grip on the PC gaming market is undeniable - in fact, 72% of developers think it has a functional monopoly. As Larian publishing director Michael Douse put it, "It's almost as if it isn't providing a shit service". The Epic Games Store, the Xbox App, Ubisoft Connect, the EA App (why does every publisher have an app?), none of these platforms come anywhere close to matching Steam's generally stellar experience.

That being said, a lack of real competition is the root of complacency, and I for one would like to see Steam continue to improve, especially as it invades the living room with its second and much more promising attempt at the Steam Machine.

So, I rallied some PC Gamers, we bashed our heads together, and came up with a list of nine things we'd like Steam to add in 2026.

Scott Tanner, Senior Video Producer: It’s silly that Steam reviews are distilled into a binary thumbs-up/thumbs-down choice. There are plenty of games I would recommend with major caveats, or ones I’d warn people of that still have redeeming qualities. And that’s without the ones that leave me totally ambivalent. A five-star rating system, or optional scores for specific attributes like graphics, gameplay, and accessibility, would be hugely beneficial for the consumer.

I’m not alone in wanting this either. We interviewed Felipe Falanghe, one of Kerbal Space Program’s devs last year at GDC and he advocated for exactly the same thing. “For me, that’s my primary line of feedback to know what people think about the game,” he said, “and it just kind of sucks that the good and bad binary choice that we get have the same weight if you absolutely hate the game and think it’s the worst thing ever, or if you just think it’s not all the way there yet. Like, that’s the same button.”

Rory Norris, Guides Writer: One of the things that bugs me to no end about Steam reviews is that you can't see players' system specs, so I'd also like to see this information added to the store page. Stuff like graphics card, CPU, and RAM could be optionally attached to user's reviews, so it's no extra work for players. I say optionally because some players might not want to include their specs, and that's fine.

Nevertheless, if I see a review that mentions performance, whether positive or negative, I immediately want to know if I can expect similar results on my own machine. Unless the user handily lists their de

Source: PC Gamer