Achievement hunters, rejoice. Valve is overhauling how Steam achievements work, and one of the most annoying parts of chasing completion may finally be gone.
The new feature is called Achievement Sets, and it’s now in the Steam Client Beta. It lets developers split a game’s achievements into separate groups, so new content no longer has to mess with your existing progress.
No more broken 100% completions
Until now, finishing every achievement in a game meant your perfect score could vanish whenever new DLC came out with extra achievements. With Achievement Sets, developers can put base game achievements and DLC achievements in separate sets. If you’ve finished the base game, it stays finished, however much new content is added later.
Sets aren’t just for DLC. Developers can also group achievements around specific goals, such as mastering a character class, completing a campaign, or taking part in a limited-time seasonal event.
Archiving achievements you can’t earn anymore
Valve is also adding archiving. Developers can now archive achievements that are no longer obtainable, such as rewards from past seasons or holiday events. If you unlocked one before it was archived, it stays on your profile. If you missed out, it simply won’t count against you. Valve’s guidance is that any achievement players can no longer unlock should be archived.
A redesigned achievements page
The achievements page has been rebuilt too. It shows your overall, per-set and per-achievement progress in one place, and you can now filter by set or by locked and unlocked achievements. You can also compare progress with up to three friends at once, a feature PlayStation players have had for a while.
The old Perfect Games tab is being renamed Completed, and it now includes games where you’ve finished a set.
Which games support it?
Seventeen games already support Achievement Sets, including Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Forza Horizon 5, PowerWash Simulator 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Developers don’t need to update their games to start using it.
Valve hasn’t given a full release date, but Steam betas usually last around a month before a wider rollout.