Valve has rolled out a major update to Steam’s official store Steam tag system, introducing 17 new tags while removing 28 older ones. The update also includes several renamed and merged tags designed to improve how players browse games and receive recommendations on Steam.

According to Valve, the changes aim to help users better discover games that match their interests while improving Steam’s recommendation algorithms and category hubs.

Steam Adds 17 New Tags

The latest update introduces several new gameplay, theme, and genre tags. Some focus on mechanics, while others target specific settings or communities that have grown significantly on Steam in recent years.

Among the biggest additions is “Bullet Heaven,” which Valve describes as the opposite of Bullet Hell games. These titles focus on automatic attacks and upgrade-driven survival gameplay against large enemy hordes.

Other gameplay-focused additions include “Desktop Companion,” “Organizing,” “Cleaning,” and “Decorating.” These tags reflect the growing popularity of cozy simulation games and productivity-style experiences on Steam.

Valve also added several theme-based tags such as “Wuxia,” “Xianxia,” “Samurai,” and “Espionage.” Meanwhile, animal-related tags like “Capybaras,” “Wolves,” and the broader “Animals” category have also joined the platform.

The full list of newly added tags includes:

• Bullet Heaven
• Desktop Companion
• Organizing
• Cleaning
• Decorating
• Wuxia
• Xianxia
• Falling Blocks
• Espionage
• Samurai
• Zoo
• Wolves
• Capybaras
• Animals
• Cult
• Poker
• Language Learning

Valve says it typically adds new tags when enough games share a common identity that existing tags cannot properly describe.

Valve Removes 28 Older Steam Tags

Alongside the additions, Valve removed 28 tags that it considers outdated, overly broad, subjective, or redundant.

Some removed tags include “NSFW,” “Mature,” “Masterpiece,” and “Well-Written.” Valve explained that these tags often overlap heavily with more specific alternatives already available on Steam.

For example, Valve noted that “NSFW” and “Mature” usually duplicate tags like “Gore,” “Violent,” or “Sexual Content.” Meanwhile, tags such as “Masterpiece” and “Well-Written” were considered too subjective for consistent use across the platform.

Valve also removed several intellectual property-based tags including “LEGO,” “Warhammer 40K,” “Games Workshop,” and “Dungeons & Dragons.” According to the company, franchise-specific tags work better through official franchise pages rather than community tagging systems.

The full list of removed tags includes:

• 3D Vision
• Ambient
• America
• Blood
• Crowdfunded
• Cult Classic
• Documentary
• Drama
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Electronic
• Experience
• Feature Film
• Foreign
• GameMaker
• Games Workshop
• Illuminati
• Kickstarter
• LEGO
• Masterpiece
• Mature
• Movie
• Narration
• NSFW
• Roguevania
• RPGMaker
• Warhammer 40K
• Web Publishing
• Well-Written

Several Existing Steam Tags Have Also Changed

Valve also updated and merged several existing tags to reduce redundancy and improve clarity.

“Clicker” has now been renamed to “Incremental” to better represent number-growth progression games. Meanwhile, “Conversation” has been changed to “Dialogue Heavy.”

Several tags were also pluralized for consistency, including “Dogs,” “Foxes,” “Vampires,” “Elves,” “Dwarves,” and “Assassins.”

In addition, Valve merged “Jet” into “Flight” and combined “Unforgiving” with “Difficult” due to overlapping usage.

One of the more amusing changes involves the “Pool” tag. Valve explained that users frequently applied it to swimming pools instead of cue sports, leading the company to officially rename it to “Billiards.”

Steam’s Most Popular Tags Revealed

Valve also shared statistics on the most commonly used tags across Steam.

“Single-player” remains the most-used tag on the platform, appearing on over 98,000 games. “Indie” follows closely behind with more than 82,000 tagged games.

The next most common Steam tag are “Action,” “Casual,” and “Adventure.”

Valve Continues Refining Steam Discovery Systems

The Steam tag system plays a major role in recommendations, category hubs, and search visibility. Developers, users, and moderators can all contribute tags to games, allowing classifications to evolve over time.

With the rise of new genres, cozy simulations, and community-driven trends, Valve appears to be actively refining how Steam organizes its rapidly expanding library.

The latest tag overhaul reflects changing player interests while also cleaning up years of outdated or inconsistent categorization across the platform.