Steam achievements have been around for years, but the system can become difficult to manage in games that continue receiving new DLC, expansions, and seasonal content. Valve is now trying to solve that problem with Steam Achievement Sets, a new system that makes it easier to organize achievements and track progress without taking away a player’s previous completion status.

Achievement Sets are currently available through the Steam Client Beta, with developers able to divide achievements into different groups. How these groups are organized depends on the game. For example, a developer could create separate sets for single-player and multiplayer achievements, different character classes, expansions, or other parts of a game.

Players will continue earning achievements in the same way as before. The difference appears when viewing their progress, as Steam can now separate a large achievement list into smaller sets. Each set gets its own progress bar, making it easier to see what you’ve already completed and which achievements are still missing.

Completing every achievement in a set will also award a “set complete” trophy that appears on your Steam profile. More importantly, if a developer later adds additional achievements to that game, your previously completed set will remain completed instead of losing its completion status.

Valve is also separating base game and DLC achievements. Base game sets are shown in blue and contain achievements available to everyone who owns the game. DLC sets are displayed in purple and won’t count toward your overall progress until you actually own the required DLC. This should prevent achievements tied to content you haven’t purchased from interfering with your completion percentage.

Another major addition is support for seasonal and time-limited achievements. Developers can archive individual achievements or entire sets once they’re no longer obtainable. Players who earned them will still see them on their profiles, while those who missed them won’t have an impossible achievement preventing them from completing the game.

The achievement page has also been redesigned

Steam’s achievement page has also received a redesign. It now shows overall progress, individual set progress, and achievement details in one place. Global completion statistics are available through a toggle, while new search options let you filter achievements by set or whether they’re locked or unlocked.

The new system is already supported by several games, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Forza Horizon 5, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, Team Fortress 2, Euro Truck Simulator 2, American Truck Simulator, DREDGE, Crusader Kings III, and PowerWash Simulator.

For now, Achievement Sets remain in beta for both players and developers. Valve says it will continue improving the system as more developers begin adding support to their games.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.