Steam store pages just got thicker than Emma Frost's thighs

Emma Frost with a love heart — (Image credit: NetEase)

Does Steam look different to you today—girthier, perhaps? If so, and you're a Steam client beta participant, you'll be happy to know that you're not imagining it, nor do your eyeglasses need adjustment. Steam has embiggened its store pages, taking them from 940 pixels wide to 1200, a change it said is part of an ongoing effort "to modernize the design and provide a better experience for players with larger monitors."

"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 said of the change. "Of course the page will still scale down appropriately for smaller screens or smaller browser windows."

Mr Rabbit Magic Show on Steam — (Image credit: Valve)

And this is what it looks like in the beta build—not a tremendous difference, but overall I think it's a better use of available real estate.

Steam's front page has changed as well: It's not wider, like the store pages, but the left-hand column has been combined with the top menu bar "into one cohesive menu, bringing all your essential links into a more unified and reorganized space."

This actually happened at the end of July, and honestly I'm less convinced by it: Your mileage may vary, but I like having links on pages so I can just click what I want without having to dig through an avalanche of dropdowns.

This is the old:

Steam store front page — (Image credit: Valve)

And this is the new.

If you dig Steam's new look, you can have it for yourself by going into your Steam settings (in the client, not the web page), selecting Interface, and then choosing "Steam Beta Update" in the Client Beta Participation dropdown. Wait for the update to download and install, and you're off to the races. If you'd rather not horse around with the beta, that's cool too: Valve said that if everything goes smoothly, this beta may only run for a few weeks before it's rolled out to everyone.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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