Steam might be on the way to making its Discovery Queue more lucrative for users, as per a recent patent. The Discovery Queue has been quite a popular feature for players to find some hidden gems on Steam, and it seems like the new feature is set to attract more people by incentivizing them.

The Discovery Queue was added a decade ago, and it has proved to be extremely useful for developers, especially for those with smaller-scale projects. The Discovery Queue suggests a list of games that users should try out, and it is curated particularly for them. Each user's own personalized queue is influenced by what genre they play the most, their wishlist, and several other facts determined by the Steam algorithm. Developers often employ several strategies to ensure that their game reaches as many users as possible via the Discovery Queue since it is essentially a way to promote their game for free. While users didn't get much out of it apart from discovering some obscure games on Steam, that might be changing soon.

As per a new patent filed by Steam, users could soon be getting rewards for using the Discovery Queue. There will be several components at play that will determine the items that players will get. Based on the Incentive, Content, and Bonus item determination components, Steam will establish a list of suggestions for users, and an associated reward with it.





It should be noted that the rewards might not be tied to a game per se, as the patent elaborates that a particular content category might also be incentivized. For instance, players might get a bonus item for exploring different genres such as action, survival, or strategy. It should also be noted that these items will also be personalized, as certain preference factors will govern whether they get shown to a user or not.

It should be mentioned that this idea isn't entirely novel, as Valve has rewarded users in the past for completing their Discovery Queue during the Steam Awards. However, the major difference is that there seem to be multiple factors at play with this planned feature, and it will be tied to individual items instead of the queue as a whole.

This feature might be a welcome change for both players and developers. The rewards would attract more users to the feature, and developers would end up getting more visibility on Steam. That being said, a lot of patents never actually materialize, so it remains to be seen whether this feature sees the light of day.

Posted: Mar 30, 2024 3:35 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/steam-users-earn-rewards-discovery-queue/