Steam and Its Fight Against "Shovelware"

[Imon Spartan]

"80% of the games released on Steam in 2024 were never played.

- Key points: In 2024, nearly 19,000 games were released on Steam, but most failed to attract players or generate significant sales.
Out of the 18,992 titles launched, 14,951 games (80%) were barely played or purchased.
Only 4,041 games surpassed the popularity threshold needed to escape the "limited" status.

- In detail: Many of these games are labeled as "limited" on the platform, meaning they lack features like achievements or trading cards.
This initiative was implemented by Valve as a measure to combat shovelware (low-quality games) and potential scams.
To remove the "limited" label, a game must meet a certain level of popularity and sales, though Valve has not publicly disclosed the specific criteria.

- Impact on the platform: Despite criticism, Valve argues that its "limited games" system is crucial for maintaining the platform's quality.
Without this barrier, Steam could be flooded with games created solely to inflate statistics or exploit collectors, making it harder for players to find quality content and for high-quality developers to succeed in sales."

Source: https://kotaku.com/steam-19-000-new-games-limited-pc-valve-unplayed-80-1851738322

For those who don’t know, there was recently a scandal involving Steam following an investigation.

To summarize addresses the issue of "shovelware," low-quality games quickly created with pre-made assets, whose main goal is to flood the market and generate revenue through the sale of keys in random bundles. These practices not only deceive consumers but also degrade the overall quality of digital distribution platforms.

To give you an idea: A developer uploads a shovelware game made in about 10 minutes, priced at 50 cents. They purchase the game with multiple accounts to generate very positive reviews and then raise the game's price to $60. They repeat this process with several games and later create bundles on websites like Instagaming, priced at $5–$10, promising to provide games worth over $50 with very positive reviews.

What do you think? Personally, I like that Steam is taking the initiative, but I don’t think it’s enough yet. Recently, I’ve been noticing how the Points Shop is filling up with repetitive content. There are quite a few low-quality adult games, especially pornographic ones, uploading the same repeated content to the Points Shop (same frames, same wallpapers, etc.), and honestly, I feel like this is affecting the overall quality of the shop.

I support the inclusion of adult games focused on pornography or erotica, but there’s a clear need for proper filtering to prevent the shop from being filled with literal junk. I really wish they would enforce stricter quality control when approving new games for the platform.

That said, this is another topic for debate, and I just wanted to share with you the matter of shovelware. Have a great day!

[Hammer Of Evil]

Автор сообщения: Imon Spartan

Steam and Its Fight Against "Shovelware"
...

its great you think there's a lot of low quality games on steam. games are enjoyed by the player individually, which is not, and should never be your concern.

for every game there is a player. steam is an incredible launch pad for gaming in general, and it does that by being inclusive.

there are some developers that lack skill. just like fellow players in a game you enjoy. some games will meet unbridled success. others will not. this is as natural as winnowing the wheat from the chaff before making flour.

if you're busy consuming fake news/clickbait content yappers on youtube and reading kotaku, i'm not surprised you have an unbalanced opinion such as this. Its best to check where their data was gathered and how it was collected.

'They made it up' or 'they faked most of it to get you to click on it' is likely what the answer is going to be, as i've discovered myself in previous years, so i suppose its your turn to understand the quality of the content you're being influenced by. (spoiler: it's low.)

what you are doing is suggesting anti gamer practices, which are ultimately also anti consumer. I'm in total disagreement this was ever an issue, or ever will be in the first place.

A point i would agree on is that for every Stardew Valley or Terraria, or Minecraft, there are 5000 failed titles, which doesn't illustrate a 'shovelware' problem. it illustrates the difficulty in creating a comprehensive game that many will enjoy, and that not everyone is a good creator.

[Start_Running]

Автор сообщения: Rainbow Dash

the irony of games being "limited" to avoid "scams" as if achievements had value and having to pay real money for imaginary uses of singular virtual assets on a global scale arbitrarily and artificially restricted and controlled for each user was something legit in the first place

If I recall limited also prevents games from counting towards your games owned count and whatnot. And you'd be surprised how much value things like that can have

Автор сообщения: Realigo Actual

A few years ago, when Steam's saturation problem had a big controversy moment, all the media basically wrote articles blaming Valve and said Valve should fix it. No self-awareness that this is and has always been an ongoing curation opportunity for them.

Ahhh but they don't know what to focus on sindce they're all trying to find hidden gems, the next indie darling, the next breakout success, the next mega-hit.

The volume of releases makes it very hard to pick them out.
Now for those who have a genuine passion for specific genres or tyopes of games this is no problem. but for those who just want the views.. it's a nightmare.

Автор сообщения: Realigo Actual

I don't think the market games are an issue because I don't ever see them. What is an issue is that low-quality titles including porn games are competing with genuine indie titles and that's not a good thing.

Why not?
I mean if you can't stand out from the trash..you're trash.
And this has been a reality even before steam was a thing believe it or not,

[Bmx Bandit]

For OP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZazEM8cgt0&ab_channel=budagum

[Eagle_of_Fire]

Автор сообщения: Thermal Lance

The problem, as many have pointed out, is that everyone got their own definition of what shovelware is.

Which one should be taken into account? The more conservative scope or the absolute largest one?

The actual definition, of course.

There is a reason why dictionaries exist. Most people ignore them completely but they still exist, and for a reason.

[MonkehMaster]

Автор сообщения: Imon Spartan

Автор сообщения: BJWyler

Yeah, rage bait YouTubers aren't the win you think it is. And shovelware has been a thing for at least the past 30 odd years mate.

Good thing is, in today's industry you don't get to dictate what a good game is and what games people are allowed to play. Each individual can do that for themselves, as it should be. Ignore the games you don't like. Play the ones you do like. It's not rocket science.

I’m not sure what your concept of “rage bait” is, but this YouTuber is actually one of the most respected figures in the Spanish-speaking community, having even won awards for his investigative videos related to the gaming industry.

On the other hand, without derailing the main topic, regarding the issue of shovelware, I believe that just because a problem has existed for 30 years doesn’t mean it should be ignored—quite the opposite. Action should be taken to address it. And let’s be serious, everyone can tell the difference between a game that’s a “scam” and one that’s just bad but still a legitimate game.

If Steam steps up and implements an internal barometer to prevent, as much as possible, the influx of this type of game, it will always benefit the user in the long run.

if it has any youtube videos, streams, or w/e as a part of something, or even being used as proof, no matter if its 100% true, they claim rage bait and other nonsense.

best to ignore those comments.

[Haruspex]

Автор сообщения: Hammer Of Evil

for every game there is a player.

Well, maybe not every game, but it's surprising sometimes which games do find an audience, and it's not always the ones you might expect. Valve can't tell. You or I can't tell. So it's really a good thing that Valve just leaves it up to the individual to decide if a game is worth their time and money or not.

Steam is like an art gallery that contains everything from the Mona Lisa and the Sistine Chapel to some crayon scribble on a napkin done by some gremlin, and everything in between.

[Complete Domination]

Seriously, it's like some people are so braindead and lazy they couldn't even spend 10 minutes looking up what they really want or tinkering with filters.

[Jakob Fel]

I'm torn on the issue. On one hand, I really love, respect and appreciate the "libertarian" stylings of Steam's policies on games because ultimately, it should be up to the individual to choose what they buy.

On the other hand, we also have these stupid scams like Banana that just don't contribute any real, tangible value to the platform for anyone other than teenagers who are gullible to such scams (and I'm not faulting them; those kinds of cons are typically aimed at younger crowds). Further, I am NOT a fan of straight-up porn games on Steam. Adult content in a game that's a game first and foremost is alright, provided we aren't letting the under 18 audience access them, but a lot of the shovelware mentioned, it definitely is just porn slop that nobody should be playing, period.

That being said, I agree with the first reply that ragebait Youtubers really aren't helping matters. I despise this "influencer" game where people can share negative opinions that they probably don't even believe themselves, yet make bank off of it. The problem is, this has always been the case (look at tabloid magazines for a prime example), it's just a sad consequence of the dismantling of traditional media that now we have everybody and their brother spinning up Geeks + Gamers style channels where all they have to do is share constant hate and negativity to make a living. Despicable, but there's not much that can be done without limiting freedom.

[Tito Shivan]

Автор сообщения: Imon Spartan

"80% of the games released on Steam in 2024 were never played.

- Key points: In 2024, nearly 19,000 games were released on Steam, but most failed to attract players or generate significant sales.
Out of the 18,992 titles launched, 14,951 games (80%) were barely played or purchased.
Only 4,041 games surpassed the popularity threshold needed to escape the "limited" status.

You've just discovered the Pareto Rule.

Автор сообщения: BJWyler

"if instead of 40,000 games being released per year, only 10,000 were published, I would see it as a healthy change allowing each game released to have a better chance of receiving the attention it deserves."

The thing is this isn't a Steam issue. The days where 'having your game on Steam' or 'putting it on sale' was enough to get sales rolling were gone long before 'they opened the floodgates'.

The market has simply changed.Now there's dozens of different online storefronts. Marketing now largely happens in the streaming space and on social networks. Putting your game on Steam isn't going to draw attention to the people who are watching streams of not your game.

Ironically, some developers understood it to perfection. They started making so really bad games that they attracted the attention of streamers who showcased their games giving it an unimaginable amount of exposure... And sales.

[Heretic]

Steam's zero quality control has been detrimental to gaming and has severely lowered the standards IMO.

[Start_Running]

Автор сообщения: Heretic

Steam's zero quality control has been detrimental to gaming and has severely lowered the standards IMO.

And yet they be making money like nobody's business.

[Kargor]

Автор сообщения: Heretic

Steam's zero quality control has been detrimental to gaming

"Quality control" is always problematic when it comes games, or really any form of art. It's easy(-er) to come up with objective criteria for technology, like a car -- but even there, people might accept lower quality on cheaper brands.

Steam is trying to not "quality control" anything to avoid the pitfalls associated with it. They don't want to answer questions like "why did you allow this game into the store, but not that one?".

Instead, they are trying(!!!) to automate the process, which influences whether games are shown to users.

and has severely lowered the standards IMO.

If by "standards" you mean "average", sure. The more games you have on a platform like Steam, the more "low standards" game will there, which will lower the average. Doesn't really matter, though.

[RPG Gamer Man]

Different strokes for different folks. Everyone likes different games. For example, a game you personally like may not be the same type of game i like. I like rpgs, puzzle games, and city builder games. I hate MOBA's and FPS. Yet, i have friends on my list that love those type of games. We are still friends even if the games we do not like match our interests. So OP needs to learn different people like different things. It is how the world is.

[-OrLoK- Слава Україн]

I'd rather art not be policed into a minorities opinion of what is "good" and "bad".

All art is subjective.

[Complete Domination]

Автор сообщения: -OrLoK- Слава Україн

I'd rather art not be policed into a minorities opinion of what is "good" and "bad".

All art is subjective.

A commendable notion that I wish most people on steam could take after instead of acting like an overgrown baby that always need telling what to do.