Why Steam Still Rules PC Gaming
Steam is still the king of PC gaming. Around 72 percent of developers think it effectively has a monopoly on the PC games market. Competing launchers like Epic Games Store, Xbox App, Ubisoft Connect, and EA App just do not match the overall experience Steam offers.
That success is also a risk. Without strong competition, any platform can get comfortable and stop improving. With Steam pushing harder into the living room through devices like the Steam Deck and the new wave of Steam Machine style PCs, there is a lot of room to make the platform even better for gamers.
Here are nine smart and sometimes fun ideas PC gaming writers would love to see Valve add to Steam in 2026.
Smarter Store, Reviews, And Library
1. Better review options and performance context
Right now Steam reviews are a simple thumbs up or thumbs down. That works for clear cases but not for games you would recommend only with caveats or titles that are flawed but interesting. A five star system or optional category scores for things like graphics, gameplay, and accessibility would give players more nuance.
Another big wish is attaching optional PC specs to reviews. If a review mentions great or terrible performance, you really want to know what graphics card, CPU, and memory that person is using. Developers system requirements are not always accurate, so seeing real world hardware next to a review would help both players and devs. It could even reduce unfair negative reviews from people running far below the recommended specs.
2. Store page upgrades and built in tools
Gamers already rely on external sites like SteamDB to check historical pricing. Building a price history tracker directly into Steam would help users decide whether a sale is actually good or if the game has been cheaper before. This makes waiting for the right discount easier and saves you from juggling browser tabs.
Another great idea borrowed from the Xbox PC App is HowLongToBeat integration. This service shows average completion times for the main story, typical playthroughs, and full completionist runs. Having that info inside the Steam store would help you know whether you are about to commit to a five hour story or a hundred hour epic, without leaving the client.
3. A proper currently playing section
Steam libraries can get massive and the Recent Games shelf does not always feel personal. A dedicated currently playing section at the top of your library would make Steam feel more like a command center than a database. You could manually mark a few games as in progress and see things like achievement completion and hours played at a glance, similar to how book tracking apps show your current reads.
4. Achievement categories for real 100 percent runs
Steam achievements are useful but messy. Base game and DLC achievements are all dumped into one list, which means you can never truly hit 100 percent on many games unless you buy and complete every expansion. Consoles like PlayStation solve this by splitting achievements or trophies into base game and DLC sections.
If Steam added similar categories, completionists could proudly finish the base game list and treat each DLC as its own separate target. It would also make browsing achievements far less overwhelming for long supported games.
5. Easier ways to grab missing DLC
Coming back to a live service or long running game often means sorting through mountains of cosmetic packs and small DLC bits just to find the actual expansions you care about. A simple tool that highlights major content you do not own yet, or a one click button to bundle all essential DLC while ignoring minor cosmetic add ons, would make returning to older games much smoother.
Mods, Wishlists, And SteamOS For Every PC
6. More powerful and widespread mod support
When Steam Workshop first arrived, the dream was that it would become the central hub for modding. In reality it is convenient but still behind dedicated mod managers in features such as load order control and complex mod profiles. It is also not as widely supported across older titles as many players would like.
Improving Workshop to rival popular mod organizers and extending it to more classic PC games would be a huge win. Imagine installing something like Fallout New Vegas or Skyrim and having a curated set of essential community patches and fixes automatically applied through Steam. That would save countless hours of manual mod hunting and maintenance.
7. Deeper wishlist controls and organization
For many players the Steam wishlist has become a chaotic dumping ground. With no strong tools to organize it, older entries stack endlessly and the list stops being useful as a real shopping plan.
Bringing over the excellent library tools to wishlists would change that. Being able to create multiple wishlists or collections would let you separate must buy games, deep sale only curiosities, co op titles to play with friends, and more. With better organization, sale emails and notifications would feel far more targeted and less like spam.
8. SteamOS as a real desktop option
Outside the client itself, one of the most exciting possibilities is SteamOS on standard PCs. The Steam Deck has shown how far Valve’s Linux based system has come, with thousands of supported games and an interface made for controllers and living room setups.
Right now SteamOS is mainly tied to the Deck and a few handhelds with partial support. Many PC gamers who want to leave Windows are instead installing community Linux distributions like Bazzite that are tuned for gaming. A fully supported SteamOS release for desktops and living room PCs with solid Nvidia, Intel, and varied hardware driver support would offer a friendlier path into Linux for everyday players. For a lot of people just install SteamOS sounds much less intimidating than digging through distro choices and configuration guides.
9. A fun bonus: Gabe yacht tracker
Not every request has to be serious. One tongue in cheek idea is a Gabe yacht tracker inside Steam, giving regular updates on what Valve’s famously ocean loving co founder is doing at sea. It is a joke suggestion, but it underlines something important. PC gamers feel a strong connection to Valve and Steam, and there is room for more personality and fun inside the platform alongside the serious quality of life features.
Steam is already the best place for PC gamers to build libraries, discover games, and tweak performance. But competition and community feedback are what keep it sharp. If even a few of these ideas land in 2026, the platform could become more powerful, more personal, and friendlier for everyone from hardware enthusiasts to casual players booting up a single favorite game.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/9-big-things-steam-needs-to-improve-in-2026/
