Let's plays, streams and speedruns exist, all three helping a potential buyer in their decision process.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

True, Let’s Plays and streams can show game length, but not everyone has time to watch them, and some games take longer to finish depending on the player. Watching a playthrough can also spoil the game.

You don't need to watch the entire playthrough to get a glimpse at what the game is about.

Plus, if someone wants to preorder a game, how are they supposed to know how long it is? Waiting until release might make them miss out on limited edition items. Having average playtime directly on Steam is faster, easier, and more reliable — it helps players decide if a game is worth the price without ruining the experience.

How do you get the average playtime in hours of titles not available to play yet?

Even the devs can't provide any kind of accuracy, because people play games at different speeds.

Take something like the Witcher 3 - a player going through and exploring the whole world, doing side quests and the like will have a fat longer playtime than someone just focusing on the main story.

An average playtime would not be reflective of anything, imho

Steam has already stated they will not add this feature, due to many factors and sane reasons.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

Originally posted by Ettanin:

Let's plays, streams and speedruns exist, all three helping a potential buyer in their decision process.

True, Let’s Plays and streams can show game length, but not everyone has time to watch them,

You don't have to watche them you can just look at tyhe combined length of the videos.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

and some games take longer to finish depending on the player.

That's pretty much ALL games.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

Plus, if someone wants to preorder a game, how are they supposed to know how long it is?

At which point your suggestion becomes equally useless since there will be no data to draw an average from any way.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

Having average playtime directly on Steam is faster, easier, and more reliable — it helps players decide if a game is worth the price without ruining the experience.

???

How will they get an average playtyinme if the game is in preorder phases (ie pre release).

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

Originally posted by Start_Running:

You don't have to watche them you can just look at tyhe combined length of the videos.


That's pretty much ALL games.


At which point your suggestion becomes equally useless since there will be no data to draw an average from any way.


???

How will they get an average playtyinme if the game is in preorder phases (ie pre release).

Even for preorders, Steam could give a rough estimate based on content and levels. It doesn’t have to be perfect — just something to help players judge value before buying, especially for limited editions.

So basically just pull a random number out the air?
At that point might as well just keep it as is.

An averaga won't tell you how long YOU will play the game.
COnsider. Most fighting games can be finished in 1-2 hours.
Same for racing and sports games. VN's are a matter of what your reading speed is.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

An average isn’t about guessing your exact playtime — it’s a general guide for most players.

Yeah, but half the player base will always finish it in less time and the other half will take longer.
So again it becomes useless as a guide. Since someone has no clue before hand which side of that coin flip they're gonna land on.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

It’s better than nothing, especially for long games or preorders,

No information is better than misleading/inaccurate information.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

and gives people a realistic idea before they spend money.

You literally gave two examples where the information would be inherently inaccurate or misleading.

A preorder would literally be guessing a random number
And a long game.. say a an RPG or simulation would equally be inaccurate because well...how long you play is going to be up to you the player.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

Ai can EASILY scan the WHOLE entire game everything and tell us time to beat, very fast.

And now I know you have no idea what you're talking about.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

Originally posted by Start_Running:

So basically just pull a random number out the air?
At that point might as well just keep it as is.

An averaga won't tell you how long YOU will play the game.
COnsider. Most fighting games can be finished in 1-2 hours.
Same for racing and sports games. VN's are a matter of what your reading speed is.

Steam should show average playtime! It’s not about predicting your exact time — it’s a general guide for most players. AI can scan the entire game and calculate a rough time to beat, fast and accurately. This helps people decide if a game is worth the price before buying, especially for long games or preorders. If you don’t care, just ignore it — it’s extra info, not mandatory.

Unlike much larger companies, Valve did not develop an AI and renting one to scan game content to make a difficult guess would eat a lot into their profits. A guess that is prone to be very inaccurate because from assets alone you cannot estimate a game's flow and required time to completion.

Not to mention that this would require the publisher's consent.

Let's plays and streams remain the most reliable source for a buyer to make an informed decision. Maybe not for preorders, but those require a trust into a risky proposition anyway.

Have you heard of “ howlongtobeat.com ?”

It’s definitely not 100% accurate (I find I take more time on average to finish/complete most games then the times shown on the site) but I also don’t usually play games in the most “optimal” way or rush through them. Still, it’s a decent resource, IMHO. No AI involved.

Of course it wouldn’t work for preorders (unless someone with a review copy of a game completes it and uploads their hours prior to release and IDK if the site even allows that).

Originally posted by Ettanin:

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

Steam should show average playtime! It’s not about predicting your exact time — it’s a general guide for most players. AI can scan the entire game and calculate a rough time to beat, fast and accurately. This helps people decide if a game is worth the price before buying, especially for long games or preorders. If you don’t care, just ignore it — it’s extra info, not mandatory.

Unlike much larger companies, Valve did not develop an AI and renting one to scan game content to make a difficult guess would eat a lot into their profits. A guess that is prone to be very inaccurate because from assets alone you cannot estimate a game's flow and required time to completion.

Not to mention that this would require the publisher's consent.

Let's plays and streams remain the most reliable source for a buyer to make an informed decision. Maybe not for preorders, but those require a trust into a risky proposition anyway.

That;'s not really something an AI can do since it requires knowledge of the player's actual physical abilities.

Take a game like Ninja Gaiden for the NES. A surprisingly short game yet more than half the people who've played it have never seen the end even after hours of play.

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

delete the messages

To make it simple for you, it is not possible, players can be idle and not even playing the game, yet it is running in the background. Steam ONLY see's how long the games EXE file is running, that is it. So what you want is not possible.

Originally posted by pckirk:

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

delete the messages

To make it simple for you, it is not possible, players can be idle and not even playing the game, yet it is running in the background. Steam ONLY see's how long the games EXE file is running, that is it. So what you want is not possible.

can you delete your message so i can delete the thread??

Originally posted by Start_Running:

Originally posted by Ettanin:

Unlike much larger companies, Valve did not develop an AI and renting one to scan game content to make a difficult guess would eat a lot into their profits. A guess that is prone to be very inaccurate because from assets alone you cannot estimate a game's flow and required time to completion.

Not to mention that this would require the publisher's consent.

Let's plays and streams remain the most reliable source for a buyer to make an informed decision. Maybe not for preorders, but those require a trust into a risky proposition anyway.

That;'s not really something an AI can do since it requires knowledge of the player's actual physical abilities.

Take a game like Ninja Gaiden for the NES. A surprisingly short game yet more than half the people who've played it have never seen the end even after hours of play.

can you delete your message so i can delete the thread??

Originally posted by Ettanin:

Originally posted by Zephyr Paradise:

Steam should show average playtime! It’s not about predicting your exact time — it’s a general guide for most players. AI can scan the entire game and calculate a rough time to beat, fast and accurately. This helps people decide if a game is worth the price before buying, especially for long games or preorders. If you don’t care, just ignore it — it’s extra info, not mandatory.

Unlike much larger companies, Valve did not develop an AI and renting one to scan game content to make a difficult guess would eat a lot into their profits. A guess that is prone to be very inaccurate because from assets alone you cannot estimate a game's flow and required time to completion.

Not to mention that this would require the publisher's consent.

Let's plays and streams remain the most reliable source for a buyer to make an informed decision. Maybe not for preorders, but those require a trust into a risky proposition anyway.

can you delete your message so i can delete the thread??

Originally posted by datCookie:

Even the devs can't provide any kind of accuracy, because people play games at different speeds.

Take something like the Witcher 3 - a player going through and exploring the whole world, doing side quests and the like will have a fat longer playtime than someone just focusing on the main story.

An average playtime would not be reflective of anything, imho

can you delete your message so i can delete the thread??