Steam adjusts store tags
Intelligence Summary
- Steam has updated its tags, adding new ones and removing others to improve recommendations and the user experience.
Steam adjusts store tags
Valve's digital platform, Steam, has recently made changes to the official tags attached to games in the store. These updates, rolled out on May 19, 2026, include the removal of 28 tags, the addition of 17 new tags, and updates to a number of existing tags. The goal of these changes is to help players identify games that best match their interests and to allow Steam to make more relevant recommendations.
The importance of tags in the Steam experience
Tags are essential for both developers and players. They help developers describe their game to potential players and allow Steam to generate recommendations tailored to user preferences. In addition, tags form the basis of the various themed hubs in the store, where players can find games based on genre, style, or other relevant criteria.
Tags can be assigned by developers, players with unrestricted accounts, and Steam moderators. This means the relevant tags for a game can change over time based on community feedback.
New and removed tags
The recent update introduced a range of new tags focused on specific gameplay elements and themes. Some of the newly added tags include:
Bullet Heaven: Focuses on upgrades while automatically attacking enemies.
Desktop Companion: Games that make partial use of your screen.
Wuxia: Historical fantasy adventures with martial arts.
Falling Blocks: Like Tetris, this is all about stacking and placing blocks from above.
Language Learning: Games that encourage learning new languages.
In contrast to the new additions, a number of tags were removed because they no longer served a clear purpose. Below are some examples of removed tags:
3D Vision
Blood
Crowdfunded
Documentary
Changes to existing tags
In addition, several existing tags were renamed and merged in the update. For example, the 'Clicker' tag has been changed to 'Incremental' to better reflect the broader scope of these games. The 'Conversation' tag has been changed to 'Dialogue Heavy' for clarity. Tags that were not unique enough, such as 'Jet', were merged under the more general term 'Flight'.
The 'Pool' tag was also humorously applied and has now been renamed to 'Billiards', the umbrella term for all games played with cue sticks.
Timeline
2026-05-19: Steam adds 17 new tags and removes 28 existing tags from the digital store.
2026-05-19: Valve publishes a blog post explaining the reasons behind the tag changes.
2026-05-19: The new tags go live in the Steam store, making it easier for players to find games that match their preferences.
The changes are a response to the evolution of gaming and offer an improved user experience by providing more relevant and accurate recommendations. The community appears generally positive about the changes, especially the new tags that better align with more popular genres and gameplay elements. Steam's ongoing evolution of its tag system underlines the important role player feedback plays in shaping the platform experience.
