Steam’s Big Accessibility Update

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Summary

  • Steam will soon list new accessibility options for games, like adjustable difficulty and custom volume controls.
  • The popular PC gaming platform continues to grow, with over 40 million simultaneous players.
  • Developers will provide accessibility information on Steam games before 2025, aiding gamers in selecting titles.

Steam is planning to provide a variety of accessibility features for its games in the near future. In an effort to enhance user experience, Steam has been implementing numerous user-friendly options on its platform. This update aims to give gamers a comprehensive understanding of the titles they’re considering buying, enabling them to make informed decisions.

Initially launched by Valve Corporation in 2003, Steam now stands as the most prominent PC gaming platform globally. Its appeal has grown significantly since then, largely due to its user-centric features, making it a favorite among gamers. As players continue to expand their game collections on Steam, the platform has successfully retained a substantial user base. In fact, Steam recently surpassed 40 million concurrent users, indicating that it continues to grow steadily each year.

In a recent update to Steamworks, it was announced that developers will soon provide accessibility information for their games on the platform. To do this, Steam is distributing questionnaires about accessibility to game creators so that players can easily determine if a title suits their needs. The categories covered are Gameplay, Audio, Visual, and Input, with options for gamers to check which features are available in the game.

Accessibility Options Listed By Steam

  • Gameplay: Adjustable Difficulty, Save Anytime.
  • Audio: Custom Volume Controls, Narrated Game Menus, Stereo Sound, Surround Sound.
  • Visual: Adjustable Text Size, Subtitle Options, Color Alternatives, Camera Comfort.
  • Input: Keyboard Only Option, Mouse Only Option, Touch Only Option, Playable without Timed Input, Text-to-speech, Speech-to-text communications.

Example: The Gameplay category encompasses “Adjustable Difficulty” and “Save Anytime” as attributes, signifying whether players must rely on specific save points or checkpoints to preserve their advancement, and if they have the option to select from various difficulty levels. Other categories might feature options like customizable volume controls, audio-narrated menus, adjustable screen text size, subtitles availability, keyboard/mouse gameplay, and more. As per Steam, developers will be given “a few months” to respond to the questionnaire, which will later be accessible prior to the end of 2025. This should prove advantageous for gamers seeking their next Steam game title.

This innovative tool may prove exceptionally beneficial for gamers with disabilities, offering features like flagging games that offer colorblind mode options. Lately, Steam has been expanding its accessibility features significantly, such as alerting Steam users if early access games don’t receive updates for several months.

In a more recent adjustment, Steam no longer permits paid promotions as a source of income within its platform. Consequently, developers can no longer make users interact with advertisements to obtain rewards or enjoy game features. Here’s hoping that these consumer-friendly modifications will persist, enhancing the user experience on the widely used PC gaming platform.

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2025-04-23 22:14