Steam Achievement Sets are live in beta right now: opt into the Steam Client Beta on PC, Mac, Steam Deck or Big Picture Mode and you can try them today in 17 games, including Portal 2, Forza Horizon 5 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Valve announced the feature on October 15 in a Steam news post, and it changes how achievements are grouped, counted and compared.
In short: developers can split achievements into sets (base game, DLC, seasons), retire time-limited ones without ruining anyone’s 100%, and Steam gets a rebuilt achievements page with friend comparison.
Portal 2 splits its 51 achievements into Single Player and Cooperative sets, each with its own progress bar. Image: Valve
Table of Contents
What Steam Achievement Sets are
Games now get DLC and seasons for years, and achievements added later are hard to find and can break the completion status of players who already finished. Sets let developers group related achievements however they like; Valve’s examples are single-player and multiplayer sets, or eight class-based sets.
- You unlock achievements the same way; Steam just sorts them into the developer’s sets instead of one long list.
- Every set has its own progress bar. Finish one and Steam adds a “set complete” trophy to your profile.
- Your completion is protected. If achievements are added to a set you finished, you keep the completion, and new content can go into a new set.
Base game sets vs DLC sets
There are two kinds of sets, and Steam color-codes them:
| Set type | Who can earn it | Color | Counts toward your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Game | Everyone who plays the game | Blue | Always |
| DLC | Only players who own that add-on | Purple | Only once you have the content |
That last column matters for completionists: DLC you don’t own no longer drags down your overall progress. You can still browse every achievement on the new page to see what an expansion adds.
Archived and seasonal achievements
Developers can now archive a single achievement or a whole set. Valve suggests uses like season-based achievements or limited-time holiday ones. If you unlocked an archived achievement, it stays on your profile. If you missed it, it disappears from your profile and no longer blocks you from completing the set or the game. Valve’s guidance to developers is to archive any achievement players can no longer unlock.
The new achievements page and friend comparison
The redesigned page opens from your Games List on the web and from games in your Steam Library. It shows overall progress, progress per set and details for each achievement. Other changes:
- Global Stats (each achievement’s unlock rate) is now a toggle on the same page.
- Search filters for specific sets and for locked or unlocked achievements.
- Compare with up to three friends, including rare achievements, completed sets and DLC progress. Friends who played through Family Sharing now count too.
- A fairer total: your achievement count is based on what you can actually earn, so it can differ from a friend’s if they own different DLC or missed archived achievements.
- The Perfect Games tab becomes Completed, and games with a completed set can go in the Completionist Showcase.
- Store and Library pages show whether a game uses sets.
PowerWash Simulator 2 shows base game progress in blue, DLC sets in purple, and a side-by-side friend comparison. Image: Valve
How to try Achievement Sets now
The steps below come from Valve’s Steam Client Beta help page:
- Desktop: with Steam running, open Steam > Settings (Preferences on Mac), go to the Interface tab, set Client Beta Participation to Steam Beta Update, then click Restart Now.
- Steam Deck: press the Steam button, go to Settings > System > Beta Participation, set System Update Channel to Beta and restart.
- Big Picture Mode: go to Settings > System > Beta Participation, set Steam Client Update Channel to Steam Beta Update and restart.
Expect rough edges; Valve is taking feedback in the Steam Client Beta discussions. To leave, switch the same setting back.
Which games support Achievement Sets
Valve lists 17 games that have already added sets: Against the Storm, Age of Wonders 4, American Truck Simulator, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Crusader Kings III, DREDGE, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Forza Horizon 5, Flock Around, He is Coming, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, PowerWash Simulator, PowerWash Simulator 2, Team Fortress 2 and Victoria 3. More will appear as developers adopt the tools; Valve has a Steamworks post explaining how.
What’s next
Valve says it will keep improving the feature during the beta and hasn’t given a date for the full rollout. It lands a day after Epic’s new launcher news. With Modern Warfare 4 on board and seasonal games a natural fit for archived achievements, expect more live-service titles to add sets.
Sources: Valve on Steam News, Steam Support: Steam Client Beta, The Verge, PC Gamer.
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Featured image: Valve
