Steam has recently introduced new accessibility features aimed at improving the experience for players with specific needs. As a leading platform for digital PC gaming, Steam continuously enhances its offerings to benefit both gamers and developers.
A notable improvement made in early 2025 was the separation of installation and download progress into distinct bars, allowing gamers to track updates more effectively. The latest updates, however, focus on helping players discover games that are compatible with their accessibility requirements.
The community has raised concerns about the challenges faced when navigating the platform for suitable games, prompting requests for improvements. Steam’s new features address these issues directly by enabling players to filter game search results based on various accessibility options available in each title.
These options can encompass adjustable text sizes, color-blind friendly palettes, and enhanced audio features, making games more playable for individuals with vision or hearing impairments. Currently, Steam has implemented tags for a range of accessibility features, including:
– Gameplay options like adjustable difficulty and save-anytime functionality.
– Visual enhancements such as adjustable text size and subtitle options. – Audio controls including custom volume settings and narrated game menus.
– Input flexibility with options for keyboard-only, mouse-only, or touch-only gameplay. While more than 5,000 applications have begun incorporating these accessibility tags, the total number of games released in 2023 exceeds 14,000, highlighting the need for broader participation from developers.
While the addition of these tags isn’t mandatory, Steam highly recommends that developers include them, and they may do so retroactively for existing titles. Ultimately, these changes hold the potential to enrich the gaming experience for all users.
By embracing accessibility features, developers can expand their audience and ensure that gaming is an inclusive medium that everyone can enjoy.