![[Complimentary Game] The Tale of Bistun (Available on PlayStation 5 and Switch – NA)](https://www.pressx.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Complimentary-Game-The-Tale-of-Bistun-Available-on-PlayStation-5-360x180.jpg "[Complimentary Game] The Tale of Bistun (Available on PlayStation 5 and Switch – NA)")
Valve has introduced a new feature on Steam aimed at gamers who are exploring Early Access titles. Whenever a game hasn’t seen an update in over a year, users will now receive a notification. This addition was first noticed by SteamDB, and it takes the form of a warning message displayed at the top of the Early Access developer Q&A section. This alert informs potential players about the last time the game received an update.
In line with this, Valve has made some updates to Steamworks to provide more clarity on this new feature. According to Valve, “If it has been more than 12 months (one year) since the developers have either updated the game or posted an ‘update’ type event to inform players about it, Steam will add a note to the store page, just above the Developer Questionnaire. This lets players know the game has not been updated in a while.”
The notice is triggered if any of these conditions are met:
– It’s been over 12 months since the last build was assigned to the ‘default’ branch in Steamworks.
– It’s been over 12 months since the developer last posted an ‘update’ type event to communicate to players about any changes. This includes all kinds of ‘update’ events, be they Major Update, Regular Update, or Patch Notes.
Since its inception, the Early Access program has occasionally featured games that developers eventually abandoned. This new feature ensures that players are informed if a project has been left unattended for too long.
