Steam User Reviews  are helpful to review when looking to purchase a new game on Steam however there are many ways that Steam User Reviews can be exploited. It would not be surprising if some developers gift copies of there latest releases in exchange for a positive game review. This can result in a game receiving a higher overall rating and not accurately portray how actual paying customers felt about it.

September of last year, Valve did make changes to the Steam User Review system. At that time, user reviews from reviewers who activated a Steam Key for a game instead of purchasing it via Steam were removed. This change did seem lower the enticement of developers handing out free keys in exchange for positive reviews however it excluded user review scores from people who purchased or obtained keys from other vendors (direct from developer, Humble Bundle, other sites, giveaway etc.).

Valve recently announced their plans to further fine-tune the accuracy of the overall review score for each product. The new changes add further restrictions to which user reviews are included in the calculation of the score reflected on a game’s Steam store page. The overall review score for a game will no longer include reviews from users receiving the game as a free gift or during a free weekend. Those individuals can still write a review however it will not count towards the overall review score. Changes only apply to games being sold on Steam. Free-to-play games by all users will count towards the overall review score.

The new change was rolled out earlier this week and will take a couple of days to complete. During this time, you may see game review scores fluctuate depending on how many reviews come from free weekends or free gifts.

What are your thoughts on the new Steam User Review changes?