Those familiar with Steam will have noticed how every game has an overall view on how it has been received by its players. The more positive the reviews, the higher up the lists it goes, leading to more exposure to customers who might be unaware of its existence. This was open to everybody regardless of how they purchased the product. For example, if they got a key from an outside source (Humble Bundle or Kickstarter for example).
Now, Steam have changed the way it’s user review system works. Anybody can still write a user review, but the only scores that count towards the main score by default will be taken from players who have purchased the game directly through the Steam store. This might not seem like a big deal at a glance, but it could have a large impact on developers, especially independent devs. Those who have used Kickstarter to use crowdfunding will find that the majority of their sales come from those who have backed their game, so therefore are more likely to give the final product a higher score, as they have been invested in the product from an early stage. The average customer might not pay much attention to the product, unless it has garnered good reviews. With Steam defaulting to reviews from those who received their copy through the Steam store itself, this would be a very hard obstacle for driving sales. As it is a default setting, the average user wouldn’t pay much attention to the changes, so would be unlikely to change settings to include reviews from those who may have received a cheaper or free copy, for instance.
The obvious reason for this change is the abuse of the system. Games which are, putting it politely, very poor or buggy, maybe nothing like what the product description promised, would somehow receive a Positive Reception or higher. This would be achieved by the developer being able to hand out game codes to anyone willing to give a good score in order to push the product higher up the Steam recommended lists. The more exposure, the more people are likely to buy the game. A pretty shady process, but one that was used by some. And unfortunately today, more and more people may feel like using this as a shortcut to making a quick buck with a shoddy product.
Obviously, this is not the case for all games. Some wouldn’t use these tactics, and would be genuinely great experiences, fully deserving of the high reviews gained. But again, these games may have been crowdfunded in order to get off the ground, and it’s core audience would have been given an outside key for the game to use on Steam. With the changes, their revenue could be impacted drastically, through no fault of their own, as fewer people will notice their game in the ever-increasing swell of new indie games released.
Again, this is just the default option. Users have the option to change the settings if they choose to. But the vast majority are unlikely to do this, either through not being aware of the change, not really caring too much, or being aware of the abuse of the system and choosing not to change the settings because of this. Time will inevitably tell just how much this affects the indie game scene. If you would like to read a more detailed reasoning behind the change, you can go straight to the source using the link below.
Also, Steam has also changed its terms and conditions slightly. Now Steam is only to be used by those above the age of 13. A small change, but probably a sensible one. Nobody enjoys playing Team Fortress with a mouthy 12-year-old.
