Yitz thinks this change stands to have big ripple effects, and he’s happy he was able to contribute.
“Tags like this are important because of what Steam tags are currently being used for—classifying games by various factors that will impact the player’s experience, and recommending games with similar tags to players who seem to like a lot of the given tag,” he said. “As such, tags are sort of equivalent to visibility, in a way. If I enjoy a lot of games tagged ‘Psychological Horror,’ for example, Steam will show me more psychological horror games. If I want to play more games that challenge traditional gender roles, until today Steam had no way of knowing that.”
Yitz was pleasantly surprised by how quickly Valve took action, and he hopes this trend—a new one for Valve, to say the least—continues in the future.
“The needs of players and developers are determined by us players and developers, and we should try to be more proactive in asking for change,” he said. “I’m glad that Steam responded so quickly to this request, and hope they continue to be more open about changes in the future.”