Valve doesn’t update Steam’s tagging system very often, which is exactly why developers started paying attention when a major batch of tag changes suddenly appeared this week.

The update introduces 17 new tags, removes 28 existing ones, and adjusts several others as part of what appears to be a broader effort to clean up Steam’s discovery system. While it may sound like a minor backend tweak, tags play a huge role in how players find games on the platform.

Perhaps the biggest addition is the new “Bullet Heaven” tag, which gives games inspired by Vampire Survivors their own category. Until now, many of these titles ended up mixed into the Bullet Hell tag despite being fundamentally different experiences.

Valve also introduced several niche and thematic tags. Some reflect growing genres and trends, such as Wuxia-inspired games, while others focus on highly specific themes like Cults, Zoos, Cleaning, and perhaps most amusingly, Capybaras.

The cleanup side of the update is just as important. Valve removed several tags considered redundant, overly subjective, or tied to specific intellectual properties. Tags like “Masterpiece” and “Well-Written” are gone, likely because they’re more opinions than useful classification tools.

Meanwhile, franchise-specific tags related to properties like LEGO and Dungeons & Dragons have been removed in favor of dedicated franchise pages. Valve notes that players often make assumptions about a game based on tag order, meaning the sequence can be almost as important as the tags themselves.

Once a game is live, players can also add tags, which means developers need to periodically review how their title is being categorized. As Steam continues to add thousands of games every year, discoverability remains one of the platform’s biggest challenges. Better tagging won’t solve everything, but it does help players find the kinds of games they’re actually looking for.