Steam's 2024 Year In Review Should Include All of December

[rivbert]

For 2023, the Year In Review summary only included stats from January 1st 2023 to December 15th. For context, the Steam Winter Sale didn't start until December 21st 2023, which means any games played after December 15th were not included in the recap at all.

I discovered this by looking at 2023's Year In Review and noticed quite a few of the games I put most of my time into weren't included in the recap at all, because I played them after the cut-off period. My post last year had quite a few similar experiences, as December is the prime time to play new games due to time-off, gifts, sales, and bundles because of the holiday season.

I understand that yearly recaps are largely a marketing tool, however, Steam knows its user base and its user base generally is obsessed with stats (which is something Steam intentionally caters to). I personally choose to buy games on Steam over other platforms because of the stat tracking. So it seems ridiculous to me that one of the most popular times of the year to play games is not included in their yearly review, rendering it inaccurate. Some people on my previous post even mentioned that they would intentionally not play any new games in the limbo period if it was not going to be included in the Year In Review, which I actually ended up doing last December as well. As user "Icecold" stated on my previous post: "Those two weeks are the holiday period, and one of the very few periods in which I spend more time gaming than other months. Excluding that period is like excluding Christmas sales figure in yearly sales figure. It just doesn't make sense."

MY SUGGESTION IDEAS (sorted by most ideal):
(1) The Year In Review (YIR) is released mid-December 2024 and live updates your stats (perhaps on a daily basis), with a finalized Year In Review posted January 1st 2025. This one I believe is most ideal and would actually help to boost sales as people would know that their time on Steam during this period would actively be reflected and I'm sure would move people to boost any number they weren't satisfied with.

(2) The YIR is released mid-December with a message "Check back January 1st for the updated stats", and a finalized YIR is posted January 1st.

(3) Release the YIR mid-December, and update it with the last two weeks even as late as mid-January.

(4) Include the last part of December on the next year's YIR. For example, 2024's YIR would be from December 15th 2023 to December 14th 2024.

(5) Wait until January 1st 2025 to release the YIR.

There's so many different ways to include that time period, and Steam already idly tracks these stats, so I really can't why this isn't a reasonable request. The last part of December, plenty of people just want to relax and sink their time into their favorite games and I really believe this should be included in our prized Year In Review that we all look forward to so much.


My previous post: https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4041482209878754736/

[AmsterdamHeavy]

Oh who cares?

Stupid thing has been broken for me both times so far.

[rawWwRrr]

The year in review, like everyone else's, is more of a promotional device to help games get more exposure. They're going to release those around the sales. Once Jan 1 comes along, there's not much left of the Winter Sale and it'll be a few months before any Spring Sale if there is one.

YIR just before the Winter Sale will drive that FOMO up like crazy as everyone shares them with one another.

But I understand the desire to be all inclusive of the year. Just need to understand what it truly is.

[Gamer Bhoy]

It's not that deep, bro

[Smuggy]

I really don't understand this whole 'year in review' bollocks...

I know what games I've played, why would I want steam to remind me...

[fürtierliebe]

You're absolutely right and the fact that they've already made this mistake twice is ridiculous.

[rawWwRrr]

引用自 Smuggy：

I really don't understand this whole 'year in review' bollocks...

I know what games I've played, why would I want steam to remind me...

To get people to share it, producing engagement and interest during one of the biggest sales events of the year.

[Tito Shivan]

引用自 fürtierliebe：

You're absolutely right and the fact that they've already made this mistake twice is ridiculous.

That would take the anouncement out of the sales period, which would kill the point of it as an engagement mechanic during a high sales event.

And it's not an uncommon ocurrence, I mean my Spotify Wrapped doesn't include the whole current month of december either.

[Meredy]

I think the year in reviews (for all platforms) should be in January. That way it actually captures the entire year. All the other platforms cut off early December, or December entirely. I want the full YEAR, not 11 months of it.

[Jasung]

引用自 rivbert：

...because of the stat tracking... rendering it inaccurate.

I can understand the sentiment of wanting accuracy (truly, I do) but it's probably best to not fret over it too much. Got to think of it more as a fun, "soft" overview where it captures a lot, but not all, of the information it supposedly captures.

There exists several problems with Steam Replay / Steam YIR. Everything from its visibility settings not being respected to your game counts being off and even the accuracy of the other non-gaming statistics (e.g. number of comments or reviews submitted). For instance, my Steam Replay 2022 isn't set to be shown on my profile but the mini overview shows up off Steam using a browser and displays 22 games played in that year. However, when looking at the review page itself it shows 17 games played overall; and yet later, on the same page shows an entirely different amount when checking the year's timeline (not the streak which is something else). And just for clarity, none of the games are delisted or hidden or anything like that.

So I'd advise taking the Replay / YIR information with a little grain of salt. It captures a lot but it's never been accurate. Besides, if you continue to play your new games after December, then they'll show up for next year's review. I get that it's not what you wanted since it's not perfectly accurate but it's a bit of a compromise and it is what it is.

Anyway, I hope everyone will have fun with any new games that they might get during the coming Winter Sale, and that y'all will end the year on a positive note regardless anything else that may happen. Wishing everyone the best. Cheers and have fun!

[fürtierliebe]

Unfortunately they screwed it up again and we are currently not even able to showcase all three years in review in our profile at once.

[PŌPPINGUMMY]

Honestly would be fine if it was moved to January.
It feels a lil demotivating to play anything new if it doesn't get included.

[Dusty]

Does anyone know if new games played in this 2 week period are labelled "First played in 2024" for next year's replay? Or is that data also just lost in the void?

[rawWwRrr]

引用自 Dusty：

Does anyone know if new games played in this 2 week period are labelled "First played in 2024" for next year's replay? Or is that data also just lost in the void?

No one can say for now what will be included in next year's replay.

However, given that hasn't happened these past three years, the chances are low. But again, you're asking about something that won't happen for a whole another year.

[Dusty]

引用自 rawWwRrr：

引用自 Dusty：

Does anyone know if new games played in this 2 week period are labelled "First played in 2024" for next year's replay? Or is that data also just lost in the void?

No one can say for now what will be included in next year's replay.

However, given that hasn't happened these past three years, the chances are low. But again, you're asking about something that won't happen for a whole another year.

Well that does answer my question, thanks.

[Eddie]

+1