Steam once again broke its own records in 2023. According to a staggering report from data aggregation website SteamDB, over 14,500 games have found their way onto the platform, averaging a mind-boggling 50 releases per day.
This year's content tidal wave outnumbered the previous year's count by nearly 2,000 titles, indicating another unstoppable exponential surge.
Steam's 2023 record-breaking 14,500 game releases challenge discoverability, spotlighting opportunity and chaos amid democratization while needing better curation for visibility.
Is 50 Game Releases Per Day Too Much?
As Kotaku points out, the sheer volume of releases paints a picture of both opportunity and chaos within the gaming sphere. This deluge of content, while democratic in allowing virtually any developer to share their creations for a nominal fee, poses an unparalleled challenge: visibility.
Navigating the sea of games on Steam has become a Herculean task. Steam's intricate design frequently conceals new releases, requiring users to navigate multiple pages and complex filtering mechanisms just to find out what has been released that day.
Kotaku adds that these impressive figures reflect a thriving democratic system that offers developers an accessible stage to exhibit their creations. Nevertheless, despite their potential quality or innovation, 99% of games struggle to garner noticeable traction or attention.
More and More Releases
GamesRadar notes that this phenomenon is not showing any signs of slowing down. The very first day of 2024 saw the launch of 36 new games on the platform, almost matching the average daily release schedule of the previous year.
What makes 2023's figure even more remarkable is that it eclipses the cumulative game releases on Steam during its entire first decade.
The platform witnessed more game releases in a single year than it did in its formative years combined. This speaks volumes about the ever-growing diversity and vibrancy of the gaming ecosystem on Steam.
What Critics Say
The absence of an effective curation system from Valve exacerbates this issue. Despite the potential for algorithms to surface hidden gems, they fall short, leaving many quality titles declining in obscurity unless buoyed by viral marketing or influential endorsements.
Critics suggest that Valve, with its substantial resources, could implement a solution by assembling a dedicated curation team. With submission fees from these games amassing nearly $1.5 million annually, the possibility of allocating funds toward a team focused on highlighting exceptional titles becomes an enticing prospect.
The challenge now lies in bridging the gap between this flood of content and discoverability, creating a platform where deserving games can rise above the noise. For developers, it is a landscape demanding creative innovation and a strategic approach to visibility.
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