Steam prepares two changes that could change how you buy games

Steam may introduce a 30-day price history and an FPS estimator using user data for more transparent purchasing decisions.

You have probably bought a game on Steam thinking you got the best deal, only to find out days later that it had already seen a major price drop. Two new features seem to be on the way to avoid this kind of surprise.

Dataminers like SigaTbh, using SteamDB, have found references in the code to two items: Price History and 30-Day Low. These indicators point to a tool that would show a game's lowest price over the last 30 days directly on the store page.

This practice has already been available to European Union users since June 2023, due to the Omnibus Directive, which requires price transparency during promotions. The new code suggests that this transparency could reach other territories, including the US.

How the features would work

• 30-day price: displays the lowest value for which the game has been sold in the last 30 days, helping to avoid discounts that mask inflated prices from the past.
• FPS Estimator: a tool that would use performance data from users with similar hardware to plot an estimated FPS chart. Instead of relying solely on developer specs, the estimator considers real player data.

Context and potential impacts

This second function was originally mentioned by an Ars Technica article, reinforcing that the idea is to expand the accuracy of performance predictions for a wide range of PC configurations.

The goal is to reduce the barrier to buying games, helping people who do not follow benchmarks or who do not have hardware identical to what the developer recommends.

When this might arrive

There is no announced release date yet. The features remain in the datamine stage and may undergo changes or not reach the stable version. The 30-day price history in the EU already shows that the infrastructure can be adapted for a wider implementation.

Updates usually arrive first via the client's beta branch, and changes like these often appear discreetly before an official announcement. Keep an eye on the beta changelog to follow the news.

Conclusion

If confirmed, these features would increase the transparency of offers and facilitate more informed purchasing decisions, reducing the surprise of price fluctuations on Steam.

Tell us in the comments: do you think the 30-day price history and the FPS estimator would be useful in your purchasing process? Which feature would you like to see on Steam first?

Veja mais artigos como Steam prepares two changes that could change how you buy games na categoria News.