Valve updated the customer review system for Steam

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Valve has released an update to the Steam customer review system. Building off of what it released last May, today's update is looking to improve the filtering of recent game reviews.

To be specific, Valve has made two major changes: (1) a new sorting interface has been added, allowing users to fine-tune the types of reviews they see, and (2) a preventative measure to curb review system exploitation has been implemented, targeting reviews from users that obtained the game through Steam product keys (as opposed to direct Steam store purchases).

The new sorting interface isn't especially granular in its options, but it's a great start. You can filter by the review type, purchase type, and the language. By default, only helpful reviews in your target language are shown.

The largest change, the one that is attempting to curb the review system exploitation, is specifically targeting a type of review manipulation employed by game developers. To quote Valve:

The majority of review score manipulation we're seeing by developers is through the process of giving out Steam keys to their game, which are then used to generate positive reviews... As of today, the recent and overall review scores we show at the top of a product page will no longer include reviews written by customers that activated the game through a Steam product key.

Customers that have obtained the game outside of Steam can still review scores, mind you, but their review will no longer contribute to the game's overall review score.

Valve has a more detailed explanation of today's Steam customer review system on their blog, as well as some notes about the next steps they're taking to further improve the system, so check it out.

News Source: Steam News Blog
Image Source: Steam News Blog