Anyone else notice the new Steam Beta update completely nuked the "Popular Upcoming" tab?
Take a look at the screenshots. In the current live version, if an indie game hits a realistic goal (like 5k wishlists), it gets sorted chronologically. This is a lifeline for mid-sized/indie devs because it guarantees a bit of front-page visibility right before launch.
In the Beta, the tab is just called "Upcoming" and the chronological order is gone. It purely favors massive wishlist numbers now. The whole widget is just a wall of AAA games like Forza Horizon 6 and Subnautica 2.
I really hoped it was just a bug or a broken algorithm, so I asked Steam Support. Nope. Here’s what they said:
"Based on recent Steam Client Beta discussions in April 2026, you are observing a significant, intentional shift in how Steam surfaces upcoming games..."
AAA games already have multi-million dollar marketing budgets. They don't need this widget to survive. But for indies, losing this chronological spot means getting completely buried under AAA pre-orders. It feels like Valve is quietly pulling the ladder up.
What do you guys think? If you think this is a bad move, Support said Valve devs are reading the SteamClientBeta discussion forums. Might be worth making some noise before this goes live.