Steam's Interactive Recommender Is Now Available

In the digital era, it can be quite difficult to keep up with the amount of media available. There's simply more content out there than ever before, and it can make it difficult for consumers to figure out exactly what they might want to buy next. Steam's Interactive Recommender is meant to solve just that problem. The new addition to the Steam service gives players a number of different game recommendations based on their play history. The goal is to show Steam users titles that might have escaped their attention. Players can then tailor the tool's settings based on the game's age, genre, and more.

It's certainly an interesting concept! Many indie developers have discussed the difficulty in getting players to notice the games they have created. With so much content available, it truly is easy for games to get lost in the shuffle. It remains to be seen just how well Steam's Interactive Recommender will work, but it could be a great way for gamers to find their next favorite, and for smaller developers to reach a larger audience.

The Interactive Recommender does not work with the newest games available on the service; if users haven't played that particular game yet, the tool doesn't know when to recommend it. The whole thing sounds somewhat similar to the algorithm that video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu use. Both those services have some misses when it comes to recommendations, and it seems likely Steam will, as well. At the very least, players will be made aware of more games, and that could make a big difference for users.

While the Interactive Recommender is now live in the Steam store, the technology will also be used to recommend existing games in the player's current library. Better known as Steam Labs Experiment 008: Play Next, the option is designed for players with large libraries of unplayed Steam games. As such, the feature won't be a necessity for everyone. However, options like Humble Bundle make it quite easy to amass a large collection of Steam games on the cheap. The Play Next feature could be the perfect way for users to sift through their games to see what they should enjoy next.

Have you tried the Interactive Recommender yet? Do you have a lot of unplayed games on the service? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!