Elements of Steam's UI appear to be set for an overhaul, and SteamDB creator and general data-sniffer Pavel Djundik has managed to access the new-look download page. Seriously big news folks, especially if, like me, you've spent a stupid amount of your life oddly hypnotised as the little lines dance up and down, as gaming magic comes down the pipes.
The new look is visually consistent with other recently overhauled elements of Steam, such as the games library. The information displayed is more-or-less as it was, just presented in a more eye-pleasing fashion. It's worth adding the caveat that this look could change when it's officially released, but the style lines up with what Valve's been doing generally.
Steam is getting a new downloads page.I saw the code for it in same update that added SteamPal, didn't realize it was this simple to access though:steam://nav/library/downloads(via Sno on @SteamDB's discord) pic.twitter.com/xwLWHCOEjRMay 26, 2021
Djundik went on to say that "They're working on a new settings page as well, but it doesn't open so easily though. Looks like Valve is slowly but surely heading towards removing VGUI." VGUI is the Valve Graphical User Interface, i.e. the software behind how everything has looked on Steam and in Source games over the product's lifetime.
This certainly seems to be an interesting period for Valve, with the biggest recent leak being its work on a potential handheld console. And if nothing else, maybe these UI improvements to Steam will wake up some competitors, and one day we'll get an Epic Games Store with a decent frontend.
