Steam reviews are often first-time impressions of a game. Many gamers leave their reviews after a short time after playing and never update their reviews.
Since Steam allows users to filter reviews by playtime, it can be questioned about why a user gave a negative review but has hundreds of hours of game time.
PunnyCasual on Reddit is one example. They reported in the Steam subreddit that left a negative review for Destiny 2 “because of the unstable servers on launch” but has since played the game for an additional 93 hours.
PunnyCasual on Reddit showed a screenshot of received a notification on Steam asking if they would like to update their review.
The assumption may be that if a user has continued to play a game for almost one hundred hours after leaving a negative review, positive things may have happened. The developer may have made substantial updates to improve the quality, turning a negative experience into a positive one.
Since receiving the notification, PunnyCasual said: “I’m going to change it soon.”
Steam has continued to update its review system to make it more helpful for developers and gamers alike. While many reviews provide useful insight, others are nothing more than meaningless trolling or spamming recipes.
It’s important to note that the user was in Steam beta. The Beta can be activated by opting into Beta from the Steam account settings, then restarting Steam to see the changes go into effect. Beta users get a first-hand look at any new features Steam is experimenting with.
This notification is perfect for gamers who have changed their minds on a game that had a poor launch or a faulty update. Steam has allowed users to edit their reviews for years, but many choose not to or forget because they’re too busy enjoying the game they once disliked.
The notification appears under the game’s navigation in the user’s library. From there, the user can choose if they want to proceed with editing their review by clicking “Yes.” If the user’s opinion hasn’t changed, they can opt-out by clicking “No.” It is currently unknown if Steam will continue sending notifications after this point.
If Steam rolls out this new feature in a future update, it will help gamers learn if a game just had a bad launch or really isn’t worth buying.
