Steam’s New ‘Personal Calendar' Might Finally Solve Game Discovery

Valve is testing a new solution for one of Steam’s biggest problems: finding games you actually want to play amidst the overwhelming flood of new releases. The feature, called the "Personal Calendar", is currently available as an experiment in Steam Labs. It aims to cut through the noise by creating a custom feed of upcoming and recently released titles based specifically on your personal wishlist, gameplay habits, and preferences.

The new tool is designed to be highly personal. Instead of just showing you everything, Steam looks at the games you've spent the most time on to build its recommendations, rather than incorporating every demo or game you've ever played. 

This data is refreshed daily to ensure the suggestions stay relevant. Crucially, the calendar will also display games from your wishlist, even if they don't match your regular play habits, so you won't miss a launch you've already flagged. 

Unlike the main Discovery Queue, this new tool focuses exclusively on a tight release window. For upcoming games, it uses a clean calendar layout that only lists weekdays—Monday through Friday—as Valve notes that very few games launch on the weekend, and including those days would be a waste of space. 

For games that have already come out, it shows two simple sections: one for titles released in the past week and another for those from the past month. Users can also adjust the view with customisation tools and filters.

How the New Personal Calendar Solves Game Discovery

The reaction from the community has been overwhelmingly positive. Players have long complained that the standard "new releases" page is "permanently flooded" with low-quality assets, DLC, and microtransaction packs, making it difficult to find actual new games. 

Users on Reddit and Steam’s discussion pages praised the feature as "much needed" for highlighting overlooked releases. One player noted the page immediately alerted them to an upcoming DLC for the game Gunfire Reborn that they were previously unaware of, proving its real-world value.

This experiment highlights Valve’s ongoing push for better discoverability, a challenge the platform has faced for years as its catalogue expanded. This focus on curation is crucial as Steam faces increasing competition from platforms like the Epic Games Store, which prioritises curated lists, and GOG, which emphasises simplicity. 

Valve has not confirmed the date for a public platform-wide launch yet, and the platform is looking for feedback from users. Those who have any input on the feature can share their thoughts on the discussion page for the Steam Labs Personal Calendar experiment.