Steam's move into the modern age has taken another step forward with the launch, in beta, of Publisher and Developer Homepages. The new pages give Steam users the ability to follow individual developers and publishers, and to be automatically notified when they release new games, while studios can far more easily and effectively show off their wares.
Under the old system, developer and publisher pages were simply ugly lists of games, prices, and a very general indication of Steam user ratings. The new homepages provide a much more attractive and flexible layout with more detailed information about each game offered, slots for top sellers, new and upcoming releases, and games on sale, and an 'about' page.
Customizable filters are available, and homepage curators can also create lists featuring their own games and those from other studios, categorizing them by genre, series, sales, and more. Studios with only one or two games can opt to "dedicate their homepage to announcements of new projects" if they like, and unique URLs, like store.steampowered.com/dev/valve, can be set up for easy linking.
The new homepages are currently in beta and not complete, but Valve figured it's close enough to put it out for people to play with. "We still have a number of features that we are considering adding and there are still a few rough edges that need smoothing out, so opening this system up as a beta to players and developers will help us gather feedback and suggestions that inform the direction of those features," it said.
A list of developers with configured homepages is available on Steam, although Valve warned that it will quickly become "overwhelming and unusable" as it grows. To help keep things manageable, a small list of recommended devs and pubs appears at the top of the page, while the complete list, which is already huge, is at the bottom.
