Valve Adds Language-Based Scores for Steam User Ratings
Valve has introduced an excellent new feature to Steam's user review system, which changes how game scores are calculated on the platform. The updated system now evaluates results based on the user's preferred language, meaning a game can have different ratings in different regions.
How Does the System Work?
The update aims to make ratings more relevant by prioritizing reviews from a user's own language community. Key features include:
- Separate Rating: A separate rating is generated for each language once it meets a minimum threshold of reviews.
- Default Language View: The rating shown by default is the average from reviews in the user's primary language.
- Diversified Ratings: A single game could show a "Mostly Positive" rating for English-speaking users but a "Mixed" rating for another language community.
- Activation Threshold: For a language-specific score to appear, it requires a minimum of 200 reviews in that language, and the game must have over 2,000 total reviews.
- Global View Option: Users can still view the global rating summary, which includes all languages, through their settings.
Reasons for the Change: Official vs. Community Views
Valve's official explanation is that this change improves the system by providing more relevant feedback to players. However, many in the community believe this is a way to mitigate the impact of coordinated review bombing from specific groups.
This has led to speculation that the change is designed to lessen the visibility of review bombing from certain regions. For example, the recent negative feedback campaign from China targeting the game WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers reportedly led to significant changes by the developers.
