Support Playtime Tracking for Non-Steam Game

[SuitableFish]

I'm sure this has been suggested before but I figured I'd bring it to light nonetheless.

I love using Steam as a hub for my games. Unfortunately, many games are not available on Steam either due to exclusivity deals or expired licensing (in the case of older games). Luckily, I am able to add these games to Steam and customize their appearance so they fit in with the rest of my Steam collection. Although these entries lack many of Steam's features, most of these omissions are understandable. One such omission, however, stands out: playtime tracking.

Currently, Steam can recognize that you are playing a non-Steam game and will even tell your friends the name of said game. Unfortunately, Steam does not complete the seemingly simple task of tracking the time you've spent playing that game. What I am suggesting is for Steam to simply track this value and store it client-side. The numeral could even be manually adjusted so players could "transfer" their hours from other platforms or previous Steam installations.

This would encourage people to use Steam as a hub for all of their games. Thus, they would be more likely to buy on Steam when given the chance since that's where their collection is.

I hope this suggestion reaches someone who understands my grievance and take it to heart.

[Wolf Knight]

this has been brought up. you should use the Search to find those threads and read up on what was said about why its a pointless idea.

playtime tracking really has no value since people idle games to look like they have more time then they really do. and allowing transfer of time from a non steam version would only make it that much easier to do.

Last time I looked, steam no longer tells you what non steam game someone is playing. scammers would change the name of a game to "Item Verification" and use that to try and look like a member of Steam Support. This ability also would make it possible to have 1000's of hours in a game you dont own before you buy it to try and look "legit" when talking about it on the forums or in game.

not seeing any reason to track something that steam cannot verify is correct and accurate.

[SuitableFish]

Originally posted by Wolf Knight:

this has been brought up. you should use the Search to find those threads and read up on what was said about why its a pointless idea.

playtime tracking really has no value since people idle games to look like they have more time then they really do. and allowing transfer of time from a non steam version would only make it that much easier to do.

Last time I looked, steam no longer tells you what non steam game someone is playing. scammers would change the name of a game to "Item Verification" and use that to try and look like a member of Steam Support. This ability also would make it possible to have 1000's of hours in a game you don't own before you buy it to try and look "legit" when talking about it on the forums or in game.

not seeing any reason to track something that steam cannot verify is correct and accurate.

I disagree with practically everything written here.

Firstly, how can you say that playtime tracking is pointless? I want to know how long I've spent playing certain games. I also want them to actually show up when I sort my Steam library by "Hours Played". I'm sure I'm not the only one. You can't dismiss the usefulness of a feature just because you don't use it.

Secondly, why would I care about someone editing their hours played in a non-Steam game? Like you said, people already idle their hours on Steam games and it doesn't affect me at all. Why should anyone care if someone's screen says they have 999,999 hours in "Non-Steam Game: Half Life 3"?

Thirdly, as far as I can tell, Steam absolutely does share what non-Steam game you're playing with your friends. It displays as "In non-Steam game: $GameName". Thus, your point about scammers impersonating Steam admins is invalid. Besides, not only are there no Steam admins that interact with users directly, all Valve employees have a special badge for identification.

As for those who might pretend to have more hours in a game than they really do, there is an extremely obvious solution: don't share detailed information about non-Steam games.

Currently, if you launch a non-Steam game, Steam will update your status to feature the game's name and place it at the front of the queue of the "Recent Games" section of your library. It does not, however, mention the game in the "Recent Activity" section of your profile. That's right; it doesn't tell your friends that you played the game at all except for while you are currently playing it. Thus, Valve would just need to not change anything to prevent people from spoofing lots of hours on forums.

And besides, it's not like it would be a big deal even if they could spoof the hours. If I see someone has 999,999 hours in "Non-Steam Game: Remnant: From the Ashes", why should I believe them? What makes that any more credible than just saying they've put those hours in or faking a screenshot? It makes no difference.

In conclusion, none of these reasons are valid and the potential benefits still stand. I have not been convinced that this feature should not be implemented.

[nullable]

Why would Steam track and keep database entries for non-steam games? If other platforms don't track play time on their games, why should Steam track play time on their games?

[B l u e b e r r y P o p t a r t]

As much as I liked this type of thing back in the day of Xfire and Raptr, I don't think Valve should waste time to add in entries for stuff that is not on their storefront, you can already add in non Steam games and use the community for them with screenshots if you want.

I'd rather not see stuff like played Phub for 10,596 hours and blacklivesdon'tmatter played for 60,496 hours if you can track whatever you add in, but if Valve has to waste time adding in all entries for hundreds and thousands of games no thanks, then they would have to code t in to directly spot these games so you couldn't add in random garbage like what Xfire did (which was an amazing app before being taken over by idiots).

[ElvisDeadly]

^ what they said.

Everytime someone types something for a non steam game and it doesn't match EXACTLY what someone else typed a new database entry needs to be created...

And they would have to be allowed to type ANYTHING for this idea to work...

It's just not worth it

[Crazy Tiger]

Steam tracks gameplay hours through Steamworks, I believe. Due to Steamworks and the Steam AppID it can track and add the playtime of Steam games. Non-Steam games don't have Steamworks, nor a Steam AppID. Through the overlay one can see playtime, but only for that session. There is no way for Steam to know that you are launching the same .exe again.

[Black Blade]

Guys? the poster said client-side, most of you seem to compline about storing it server-side, that is not even in the suggestion
I honestly don't think its too bad, and like before it's not going to matter much to anyone but the user themself, that will see there own time tracking, that I think is nice, even if not anything so important

[MoonC A T]

Originally posted by Black Blade:

Guys? the poster said client-side, most of you seem to compline about storing it server-side, that is not even in the suggestion
I honestly don't think its too bad, and like before it's not going to matter much to anyone but the user themself, that will see there own time tracking, that I think is nice, even if not anything so important

I think the point is that if they are going to work on anything non steam related, whether client or server, they should fix the steam related things first.

Whether server or client, such a feature would still require Valve resources to implement.

[Start_Running]

Why should steam extend a service feature to publishers/games that are not paying for the service?

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by Black Blade:

Guys? the poster said client-side, most of you seem to compline about storing it server-side, that is not even in the suggestion
I honestly don't think its too bad, and like before it's not going to matter much to anyone but the user themself, that will see there own time tracking, that I think is nice, even if not anything so important

Steam collects playtime on the local machine, how else could Steam support see offline playtime when it comes to refunds. Steamworks isn't necessarily server side, it's very local integrated in the games through various .dlls and other files, hence why in offline mode certain Steamworks features still work.

It doesn't change that for Steam every foreign .exe is the same, nor that there is no way for Steam to know that you are launching the same .exe a second time in a separate session.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Originally posted by SuitableFish:

Currently, if you launch a non-Steam game, Steam will update your status to feature the game's name and place it at the front of the queue of the "Recent Games" section of your library. It does not, however, mention the game in the "Recent Activity" section of your profile. That's right; it doesn't tell your friends that you played the game at all except for while you are currently playing it. Thus, Valve would just need to not change anything to prevent people from spoofing lots of hours on forums.

You must be new here since the forums always have new posts of "I was scammed by fake admin"

[Black Blade]

Originally posted by MoonCAT:

I think the point is that if they are going to work on anything non steam related, whether client or server, they should fix the steam related things first.

Whether server or client, such a feature would still require Valve resources to implement.

First, nothing has to be this or that, it can always be both, I mean we are not complaining that Valve fixes issues with Steam Controller mapping for non-steam games while there is a problem accessing game lists of some games right?
Again may not be the most important thing, but if it adds for users, and adds to Steam, and it does not really have any negative side much to it besides work time, I don't really think its soo much of an issue as long as it does benefit someone, and the more the better

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Steam collects playtime on the local machine, how else could Steam support see offline playtime when it comes to refunds. Steamworks isn't necessarily server side, it's very local integrated in the games through various .dlls and other files, hence why in offline mode certain Steamworks features still work.

It doesn't change that for Steam every foreign .exe is the same, nor that there is no way for Steam to know that you are launching the same .exe a second time in a separate session.

Ok sorry of being unclear on that, when saying client-side, I assume the poster means the track is local, not online, let's say like adding your own image to a non-steam game panel, it does not really affect anyone as it's only on the local PC, maybe a little pain when moving a computer if you forget to update or back it up as you lose it, but it's local, no one sees it but the user themself
That is at the very least my understanding on this, but many guys replying here seem to be talking about also having the server support it, that I don't think is where the poster was aiming to when I read his post at least

[smartgenes]

I would also love this to be implemented.

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by smartgenes:

I would also love this to be implemented.

It's already implemented, just go here and buy games
https://store.steampowered.com/

[not_again.exe]

Originally posted by brian9824:

Originally posted by smartgenes:

I would also love this to be implemented.

It's already implemented, just go here and buy games
https://store.steampowered.com/

Alright sure, let me buy Far Cry 6 on Steam
OH WAIT