Valve rolls out new Steam Store update with wider store page for larger monitors

Valve has announced new changes to its Steam Store, aimed at improving user experience, especially for users running Steam on larger monitors.

The new update has rolled out in a beta, which expands the width of Steam store pages while also introducing new media support for developers looking to showcase their games more effectively.

The major change in this update is the increase in the width of pages from 940 pixels to 1200 pixels, while the main content column has expanded from 616 pixels to 780 pixels. According to Valve’s post:

“This improves the shopping experience in a number of ways, allowing for bigger screenshots and trailers, and allowing more room to describe your features in the written description area.”

Valve further mentioned that pages will accurately adjust according to users’ screen preferences, stating:

“Of course, the page will still scale down appropriately for smaller screens or smaller browser windows.”

In addition to the layout overhaul, Valve is diversifying the types of media files developers can use in the description section of Steam store pages. Previously, developers could only use .gif files, but now, they can use .mp4, .png, .jpg, .webp, and .webm formats, with a maximum file size of 100MB and a time limit of 12 seconds. Using these media formats, developers can now “show off your features, demonstrate specific game mechanics, or just add visual flavor to your store page.”

Valve has streamlined these changes by handling transcoding using its Steamworks backend, making sure that videos and media are optimized with quality and performance in mind, across desktops, browser windows, the Steam mobile app, and the Steam Deck.

The update is currently available in the Steam client beta, which users can access through the Interface tab via the Settings option in the client. Valve is keeping the new update in beta for a couple of weeks for fine-tuning before it's officially rolled out in a public update.

Valve is introducing these changes to allow users to make better use of modern screen sizes and resolutions while also optimizing page load speeds for mobile and handheld devices.

Valve has also signaled that users should keep an eye out for more Steam UI updates in the coming weeks, so this may be a precursor to future UI updates for the platform which is by far the most popular one for PC gamers since its launch in 2003.