It’s not exactly a common occurrence for me to see anything that genuinely makes my jaw drop in unbridled awe and wonder whenever I initiate the simple, routine process of launching Steam. If anything, the closest thing to the event I’ve just described that has actually happened more than I care to admit is my jaw dropping in dismay at the size of a large queued update for a game I don’t even remember purchasing.

However, I’m pleased to report that the act of launching Steam has now officially caused my jaw to drop in the aforementioned overwhelming sensations of unbridled awe and wonder at least once. That’s due entirely to the release of a new open beta update for the Steam client.

The main attraction of this particular update is the fact that it almost entirely overhauls the appearance of Steam’s library system. Within this article, I’d like to offer my opinion on this update for those among our audience who might be interested in my thoughts on this matter, as well as those who are unaware of this update’s existence.

Allow me to begin today’s discussion by directly presenting my main point. I honestly think the redesigned library system looks positively outstanding, for what it’s worth. All the new bells and whistles present within the updated library function perfectly in my experience, and they’ve served to make exploring my library much easier and more enjoyable than ever before.

If I didn’t wholeheartedly stand by both of those statements, I wouldn’t feel nearly as compelled to write this article as I am. I’m sure there’s no way I could possibly do the redesign justice by merely verbally describing what it looks like and how it functions; in light of that, I’m essentially going to let a handful of screenshots I’ve taken of my own newly-updated library speak for me to a certain extent.

In addition to demonstrating how the revamped library system looks via these screenshots, I think discussing the aforementioned new methods of library exploration and organization for a bit is also worthwhile.

Bear in mind, however, that this version of the update is currently in open beta. That comes with the usual attached caveat; which dictates that what you’ll see in this article may not necessarily represent how everything affected by this update will look when it has all officially left the beta stage. Having said that, let’s begin.

Personally, I prefer it when my Steam library is as organized as possible for various reasons. For example, I like to be able to tell at a glance when a new version of a game has rendered past versions obsolete (i.e. Skyrim Special Edition replacing the original version of Skyrim). That way, I only keep the newest and most complete version of a game installed.

I also prefer to keep track of and isolate games I never want to play again. Most importantly, though, I need to maintain the list of games I intend to eventually cover in some capacity here on Phenixx Gaming; in doing so, I ensure I don’t lose track of or forget about any games I want to review.

Before the release of this Steam update, I went about organizing my library through Steam’s “categories” system. This system works well enough for keeping my library organized the way I personally like it; however, I can’t help but feel that this mechanic pales in comparison to the new organization methods present in the redesigned library viewer.

The newly-introduced replacement for Steam’s “categories” mechanic is a system to which Valve refers as “collections.” Thankfully, I quickly noticed after installing the new update that my existing organization categories from the previous system were still present and fully intact, as was the default “favorites” category.

I also discovered that I could seamlessly rename my existing categories by simply right-clicking on their current names and choosing the “rename” option from the resulting menu. I’ve honestly forgotten how long I’ve wished that renaming categories within my library could be this simple, so I’m quite pleased to see such a feature finally be implemented.

It appears that one form of the new “collections” mechanic functions identically to that which it replaced; users can drag and drop their games into any given collection or right-click any games and send them to whichever collection they desire. However, I say “one form” of the mechanic because there exists a second type of the “collections” system, namely so-called “dynamic collections.”

These collections are designated as “dynamic” because, from my understanding, they utilize user-selected filters (such as genre and controller support) to incorporate every game in a user’s entire library which falls within these filters. Beyond that, dynamic collections also automatically include newly-purchased games that meet the user-specified criteria to be organized into such a collection. I suspect this mechanic will prove extremely useful for me because I tend to forget to organize my newest games into their appropriate categories and, thus, lose track of them.

On a final note, I hope this article has proven informative for any among our audience who are debating installing the beta version of this subjectively-wonderful update, and especially for those who were previously unaware that this update and the features contained therein even existed.

I highly recommend installing this update if you like what you’ve seen in this article. Especially you find yourself wanting to experience it firsthand. You can install the update by enabling beta opt-in within your Steam settings window. As we Steam users know, Valve tends to operate in mysterious ways; as a result of that concept and of this new update, I find myself quite eager to see what other new tricks Valve might have up its metaphorical sleeve.

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