Today's Steam update brings big updates to the various tag, genre, category, and theme browsing pages across the Steam store. Previously released as a Steam Labs experiment, these new store hubs have been tested and iterated upon with player feedback over the past few months. In fact, you've probably already seen these new hubs in action, as we've made use of them during the Summer Sale or various official themed sales.

As the catalog of titles available on Steam continues to grow, we're working to make it easier for you to find your next favorite game. This update improving the ways you can browse genres, tags, or themes, allowing you to dive deep into each area and narrow down to exactly what you're looking for.

Here's a look at what's new:

These new pages now make it easy to explore all kinds of different niches within Steam. Whether you are looking for a general category like "Multiplayer", a theme like "Space" or a very specific tag like "Action Roguelike", these new hubs let you explore deep into that category. For many categories, we've hand-built an organization to surface the relevant sub-categories within. For example, the RPG store hub is organized into Action RPGs, Adventure RPGs, JRPGs, and more, so you can drill down to exactly the kind of game you are looking for.



The contents of each hub is personalized based on your play history, network of friends, followed developers, and what you have on your wishlist.

The carousel at the top of the page will show you games recommended for you, along with helpful metadata about why that game might be relevant for you.



Our broadest hubs offer tabs to quickly drill down by logical themes and sub-genres. Each one is hand-built to showcase the most logical sub-categories for each hub. For example, you can find your way to just the Open World RPGs and Controller-Friendly Casual Games. Or some hubs are broken down by subgenre, as on this Real-time tab of our Strategy hub and this Arcade section of the Sports & Racing hub.

Each hub will recommend games based on what you've been playing and the developers you follow on Steam. Of course if you are looking at a category of games that you've never played before, Steam may not be able to generate many useful recommendations for you and will hide those sections.



These hubs each contain a powerful list view that lets you use the filter controls to narrow down to exactly the segment of games you are looking for. We call this feature 'Faceted Browsing' and it also began life as a Steam Labs experiment.



Every section of the Steam store is now lit up with current events from related titles. Catch a seasonal event, big update, or other interesting news directly from the developers.



The new hubs end with a dedicated section showcasing upcoming releases. Pre-purchase or wishlist anticipated titles to be notified as soon as they're released.


Click on an individual tag from any game's store page and you'll find the hub for that tag. You can also easily discover the most popular hubs, or the hubs recommended for you right from the Steam store homepage.

We've also added a new way to jump right into one of your favorite categories right from this colorful carousel on the Steam homepage. This section will recommend categories based on the games you've recently been playing so you can explore more similar games. Or you can always scroll to find some other categories that you maybe haven't played in a while.



You can access the most popular destinations by hitting the "Categories" drop-down at the top of the Steam store.



Launched in July 2019, Steam Labs is a place where experimental new features can be introduced early in development, tested, and developed in conjunction with the community. For more information, please visit https://store.steampowered.com/labs/

Returning to our monthly release series, we're happy to announce Steam's Top Releases for July. As always, we look at every release for the month, highlighting the Top 20 games and Top 5 DLC releases based on the first two weeks of revenue. We also highlight the top 5 free-to-play games, ranked by the number of unique players they acquired after launch.

The Top Releases of July 2022

Players connect to Steam from nearly every time zone and country imaginable, so it's no surprise that Top Releases also come from development studios around the world. This developer diversity was on full display in July, as teams based in 13 different countries earned spots on the Top Release list. Studios from Japan produced more than a quarter of the games this month, with KOEI TECMO and Bandai Namco Entertainment releasing a pair of Top Releases each. Combining a rich game development history with some of the industry's most recognizable franchises, Japanese studios regularly make Top Release appearances. But we were also thrilled this month to see developers from less-populated regions debuting a Top Release for the first time in 2022. With releases from Gummy Cat (Romania) and Ernestas Norvaišas (Lithuania), developers from 32 different countries have now created a Top Release on Steam in 2022.

July's Top Releases also include an abundance of simulation games. Between farming and colony sims to city building and management games, about half of the titles this month include one of the various sub-tags from the simulation genre. City builder fans need only decide which era they want to bring to life, with choices ranging from the prehistoric Sapiens, to the medieval Clanfolk, all the way up to the industrial Sweet Transit. July's life-sims offer players relaxing yet fantastic slices of day-to-day life, whether tending your giant wombats in the wild Australian outback of Dinkum or helping Hank the Bear run his business in Bear and Breakfast - did we mention both of these games also feature the cute tag. Along with all of these, PowerWash Simulator really splashed its way on the charts in July. Sprayers--err, we mean, players-- are really soaking up the relaxation with Futurlab’s zen-like hit. 

As with previous months, we'd also like to congratulate the teams that are releasing their first Steam game. Some of these teams have been making games for a while on other platforms, while others are making their very first commercial game. A big welcome and congrats go out to these development teams on their successful Steam debuts.

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If you'd like to check out previous months, here are more Top Release lists:

• January 2022
  
• February 2022
  
• March 2022
  
• April 2022
  
• May 2022
  
• June 2022

Today we’re starting a limited beta of the updated Steam Mobile App. We’ve rebuilt the app on a new framework and modernized the design. (2015 called and wanted their app back.) You’ll still be able to browse the store, get Steam Guard codes, and confirm trades, but now the app comes with QR code sign in, smarter notifications, an improved Library, and multi account support.

Why are you doing a beta? The sooner we get your feedback on a product, the better. So when we’re far enough along, we ask invested Steam users to try something out and provide feedback. This helps us test our assumptions, learn what you like and don’t like, and find things that need to be fixed. This is especially important when the app can be used on so many different phones and devices.

Who should join the beta? You should join the beta if you already use the Steam Mobile App and you’re willing to provide your feedback on the update. Join this Steam group for instructions on how to install the update and how to tell us what you think. Per Apple guidelines: iOS participants will be limited to 10,000 and will need to install TestFlight.

What if I can’t join the beta? If the beta slots are full, you can still join the group and chime in. We’d like to hear from you!

What’s coming next? We’ll continue adding people to the beta and improving features until we’re ready to push the update out to everyone.

Note: This update was re-released on August 30 with the following change: Reduced network usage at startup.
Note: This update was re-released on August 19 to fix an issue with Steam Chat window handling.

Steam Library

• Fixed library crash when opening certain game news items
  
• Fixed a library pause when a new screenshot is taken for a game with a large number of screenshots

Steam Cloud

• Fixed persistent “Steam Cloud out of date” message for some apps which do not have Steam Cloud fully enabled

Steam Input

• Improved support for the Nintendo Online classic controllers
  
• Added support for Nintendo Joy-Con controllers, both individually as a mini-gamepad and combined into pairs

Remote Play

• Fixed a rare freeze when using the on-screen keyboard in the controller overlay
  
• Fixed left and right thumbstick movement leaking through to the remote side when using a PS4 controller in the controller overlay

Stake out your territory, scavenge for food, and beat the elements* during Steam Survival Fest, live now and featuring discounts, demos, and upcoming releases for survival games of all kinds!

*”Elements” is, of course, the polite word for “holy crap there are a lot of things to survive in games,” from the typical environmental situations to supernatural beings, with a whole lot more in between. Can you survive everything the Steam Survival Fest games might throw at you? There's only one way to find out!

Steam Survival Fest runs August 1, 10:00 AM PDT (GMT-7) to August 8, 10:00 AM PDT (GMT-7). Check out the official Steam Survival Fest page now.

After crossing the midpoint of 2022, we're pleased to announce Steam's Top Releases for the month of June. As always, we look at every release for the month, highlighting the Top 20 games and Top 5 DLC releases based on their first two weeks of revenue. We also highlight the top 5 free-to-play games, ranked by the number of unique players they acquired after launch.

The Top Releases of June 2022

With appearances by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic the Hedgehog, Cloud Strife, and others, many of June's Top Releases seemingly emerged from a '90s time machine. Some are remastered and reimagined versions of their decades-old counterparts, while others represent brand new new entries in their respective universes. Players of the originals are sure to recognize familiar gameplay elements, beloved characters, and memorable storylines, but old and new players alike will appreciate the modern polish, added features, and brand new content that is anything but dated. So if you're short on quarters or can't find an your old game cartridges, take a look at June's Top Releases for a healthy does of the '90s.

June's Top Releases bring no shortage of exciting multiplayer offerings. Whether uniting players together for survival or pitting them against one another in epic struggle, roughly two thirds of June's Top Releases support a variety of multiplayer modes. For players who thrive when working together, June's co-op choices are as exciting as they are varied: team up to survive a perilous aquatic voyage in Raft; enjoy the near endless combination of heroes, weapons, and magic in Tiny Tina's Wonderland; or work together to write your own unique summer camp horror story in The Quarry.

If your efforts to cooperate fall short, June also presents a variety of PvP options to help settle any conflict: battle your friends in the medieval fray with Chivalry 2; leave the warm-up lap behind with the latest Formula 1 offering F1® 22; or put your combos to the test with any one of ten classic fighters from the Capcom Fighting Collection.

Finally, we'd like to congratulate the teams who are shipping a game on Steam for the first time. A huge amount of work goes into to making a Top Release, and these teams did it with their first launch on Steam. A big welcome and congrats go out to these successful Steam debuts.

--

If you're curious about previous months, here are more Top Release lists:

• January 2022
  
• February 2022
  
• March 2022
  
• April 2022
  
• May 2022

General

• Fixed resource usage of chat and web browser in Steam Overlay when hidden
  
• Fixed playback of certain game preview videos in Steam Client
  
• Fixed a case where Steamworks API calls could be briefly blocked by Steam client log file operations leading to micro-stutter in some games under very specific situations
  
• Fixed the Steam Overlay not working with Vulkan 1.3 applications
  
• Fixed crashes with Vulkan games using VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library

Steam Cloud

• Fixed issue causing some users to be unable to disable Cloud Sync for their account.
  
• Fixed for app launch stall if there are sync conflicts but Cloud Sync is disabled for the game or account

Steam Input

• Added support for Nintendo Online classic controllers
  
• Added support for the Qanba Obsidian and Dragon Arcade Joysticks
  
• Added support for the HORI Fighting Stick mini 4
  
• Show firmware update dialog for DualSense(tm) Wireless Controllers on Windows
  
• Enable improved rumble emulation on DualSense(tm) Wireless Controllers with updated firmware
  
• Fixed the "Your other games" section in the desktop version of the configurator not showing results
  
• Fixed incorrect controller configuration loading when starting a Remote Play stream

Remote Play

• Fix showing incorrect Steam Cloud Sync Failure for remote games

macOS/Linux

• Fixed resource usage of chat and browsers when Steam client is minimized/closed

macOS

• Fixed Steam Overlay not displaying in some Metal games

Linux

• Fixed Steam Overlay "Force Quit" not working for some native Linux games
  
• Fixed some games being unable to create desktop shortcuts
  
• Fixed the Steam client triggering "split lock" warnings

Get up, get moving (safely!), and join Steam VR Fest, a celebration of games that drop players face-first into their favorite worlds. With thousands of VR titles on Steam, we're excited to host this event celebrating the world of virtual reality. Starting Monday, explore games that support VR, take advantage of some sweet discounts, and—if you’re the look-ahead type—try out some demos of upcoming VR games on Steam!

Steam VR Fest runs July 18, 10:00 AM PDT (GMT-7) to July 25, 10:00 AM PDT (GMT-7). Join us (virtually*), won't you?

[vod appid=2065370][/vod]
We’re heating things up over on Steam now until July 7th (at 10am PT) with savings on tens of thousands of games across all genres!

As if scoring deals wasn’t fun enough, this year one of our friends acquaintances paid us a visit and just might have offerings of his own. Think trading cards, badges, and good old-fashioned funny business from our sort-of-buddy Clorthax, someone we hope to never see again.

Check out the official Steam Summer Sale trailer above, then head on over to the sale itself, where the deals and the fun are HOT HOT HOT.

Too many summer references for one blog post? Probably. Too much fun for one sale? NEVER.

Start browsing the Steam Summer Sale HERE.

Have fun!
-The Steam Team (and, sigh, this guy)

With our latest Next Fest coming to end and our annual Steam Summer Sale ready to go live later this week, we have a perfect window to unveil Steam's Top Releases for the month of May. As always, we look at every game released during the month, highlighting the Top 20 games and Top 5 DLC releases based on their first two weeks of revenue. We also highlight the top 5 free-to-play games, ranked by the number of unique players they acquired after launch.

The Top Releases of May 2022

With about a third of May's Top Releases incorporating sandbox elements or modes, it's safe to say that many players appreciate the freedom to set their own pace with their own creative agendas. This comes as no surprise considering that the sandbox tag itself is named after the original place where many of us developed our own unique ways of playing. From digging with toy machinery, building sandcastles, or even eating handfuls of the earth, there was no wrong way to sandbox. That spirit is alive and well with this month's selection of Top Release sandbox games. Whether lost in deep space, commanding the battlefields of history, or exploring brand-new fantasy locales, we're thrilled to see the many different ways that players are enjoying these Top Releases. 

This month's Top Release list also comes on the five year anniversary of Steam Direct making its debut on the platform. When launched in 2017, the primary goal for Steam Direct was pretty simple: streamline the game submission process making it easier for developers to get their creations into the hands of players. There are obviously more specifics to the design and its evolution, but the fun part comes when browsing the variety of success stories in each month's latest Top Releases: polished franchise releases like Sniper Elite 5, Early Access surprise hits like V Rising, hidden gems from small development teams like SUNNY SIDE UP, along with a host of other content from studios around the world. 

Finally, we'd like to congratulate the teams who are shipping a game on Steam for the first time. A huge amount of work goes into to making a Top Release, and these teams did it with their first launch on Steam. A big welcome and congrats go out to these successful Steam debuts.

--

If you're curious about previous months, here are more Top Release lists:

• November 2021
  
• December 2021
  
• January 2022
  
• February 2022
  
• March 2022
  
• April 2022