Valve is reportedly working on a ‘game notes’ system for Steam
There’s possibly a new notifications page on the way, too.
First reported by the folk over at PCGamer, it appears that Steam users may be able to take ‘game notes’ via the gaming platform in future. SteamDB Creator and dataminer Pavel Djundik shared the discovery to Twitter, saying that game notes “will be available in the Steam library, and on the web.”
A ‘game notes’ system could, really, be anything. However, what most of us imagine is a way to easily take notes while playing a game, without the need to necessarily tab out. Think to when you’re bringing up the Steam overlay to invite a friend to a game, but you have your own personal notepad, too.
Of course, that’s simply my own insinuation as to what a ‘game notes’ system could consist of. It might be entirely different, and it might not happen at all. If it was introduced, I know it would definitely make my time solving puzzles in an array of games much easier. No longer will I be scrambling to find a working pen and blank sticky-note to jot down that code or dialogue combination.
It appears that some of the Steam community share the same sentiments as me, too, and have done for a while. Responses to the news on Reddit were typically positive, and comical as ever, with some users joking about making notes to remind them to actually play the game, or notes to remind them why they stopped playing.
As some users mentioned, being able to create integrated to-do lists without tabbing out would be a nice, niche feature. Of course, not every user is going to whip out notes. Hell, I don’t even use the Steam overlay at the best of times, but there’s no denying it would be a nice feature to have the option to use. And if the option to take notes in the Steam overlay was available, I’d no doubt use it rather than scribbling my notes on pieces of paper that I am bound to misplace.
In addition to the possibility of a ‘game notes’ system in future, Pavel Djundik also shared that a notifications page is supposedly being worked on by Valve. “The new notification system should also be used in the Steam client, once they finish replacing old VGUI parts of the client (outer shell, settings, server browser, etc.)”
As ever, take all this information with a pinch of salt. Nothing has been confirmed by Valve as yet, although, if true, we can no doubt expect to hear more about the new systems soon.
Would you use Steam’s game notes? Let us know, and don’t forget that the Steam spring sale is running right now up until March 23, with a nice discount on the Steam Deck. And if you're not sure about the Steam Deck, Tom put together some essential tips before buying.