Steam Achievement Sets: Valve Tests New Achievement Collections

You've completed a game 100 percent, then a DLC drops – and suddenly your progress is gone. This is exactly the problem Valve aims to solve with the new “Achievement Sets” on Steam. The feature is currently in beta and is open to both players and developers.

What Are Steam Achievement Sets?

With these sets, developers can group their game's achievements into collections. The number of sets and what they represent is up to the studios: one game might separate single-player and multiplayer achievements, while another might create eight class-based sets. Unlocking achievements continues as usual, and Steam then sorts them into the respective sets. Each set has its own progress bar, and completing one earns you a “Set complete” trophy on your profile.

How Will Completion Status Be Maintained with New DLCs?

Valve justifies the innovation by stating that games are running longer than ever before, continually receiving new content via DLC, expansions, and seasons. New achievements are difficult to discover and could accidentally break the completion status of players who have already finished the game. In the future, the completion of a set will remain intact, even if new achievements are added. New sets will show returning players what new content is available to unlock without affecting their previous status.

• Base-Game Sets (blue): Achievements that all players of the game can earn.
• DLC Sets (purple): Achievements that are only possible with purchased add-on content. They only count towards overall progress once you have access to the content.
• Archiving: Developers can archive individual achievements or entire sets, for example, for time-limited holiday achievements. Those who already have them will keep them in their profile; everyone else will not be blocked by them.

What Else Is Changing on the Achievement Page?

In parallel, Valve has revamped the achievement page. It is accessible via the web game list and from the library, and the search function offers filters for specific sets as well as unlocked or locked achievements. You can compare your progress with up to three friends, including rare achievements and DLC sets. The “Perfect Games” tab is now called “Completed” and also shows games with completed sets. Family Sharing games appear in the game list, and Store and Library pages indicate whether a game uses sets.

What Does This Mean for Completionists?

From our perspective, this is a long-overdue step. Especially with live-service games featuring seasons, the 100% completion status has previously been a moving target. However, how well it works will depend on how cleanly studios implement their sets. You can find more about the platform's latest innovations in our report on the latest Steam update.

Source: Eurogamer

Do you hunt achievements on Steam? Tell us in the comments if the new sets convince you!