Steam has introduced a new “Trending Free” chart to ensure that free demos, prologues, free-to-play releases, and completely free games don't pollute other lists.
Valve's overhaul of Steam demos gave bite-sized teasers equal functionality as full games on the storefront, complete with dedicated pages and user reviews. But as free demos began to flood Steam's New & Trending charts, some developers worried that the changes would undermine the visibility that sometimes allows indie games to top those lists.
The Trending Free chart does exactly what it sounds like: it groups together everything that's new, free, and popular. This includes preview demos and prologues of other full-length games, games that are free to play, and games that are obviously “free” to keep (such as vanilla Doki Doki Literature Club).
Finding free gems and recommending them on a 250-word platter used to be the job of internet game writers (check out our Best Free Games list for proof), but it's great to see Valve now automating the process. Current chart-toppers include a benchmarking tool for Black Myth: Wukong and Supermarket Together, a chaotic cooperative sim that lets you live out the surreal fantasy of being indefinitely employed in this economy. And there's plenty more to discover.
Valve also announced several other new rules and changes via a new blog post, explaining that store pages will soon be unable to link to other websites or social media pages: “Within the store page editor, we have special link fields for linking to popular social media platforms,” Valve said.
Promoting other products on your Steam page will also be prohibited, as you'll “see a list of two, three or eight other games before you even read the description of the game you were looking at,” the blog goes on to note, noting that developers will be able to “set up a bundle, franchise, or developer homepage” to promote related games. Overall, the update seems aimed at reducing storefront clutter.
Check out some of the indie games coming out in 2024 and beyond.
