Steam almost never shows the correct number of games on your profile, but why is that?

If you’ve ever taken a look at your Steam profile, you’ll know that Steam shows everyone how many games you own. If you thought the number was a bit low, you were right. The number of games differs from the actual number. We’ll explain why that is.

Which number are we talking about exactly? When you open your Steam profile, you will see an entry for Games and a number on the right side under your badges. This number is meant to show your friends how many games you have. However, the number that is shown there is often not the number of games you actually have.

Steam does not count all of your games towards the “Steam Account Game Library Count” or the “number of games in the Steam account library”. We will explain to you what exceptions there are.

When players don’t understand your game, it can be quite frustrating, as this video shows:

Steam: Developer is so annoyed by ignorant players that he curses and renames his game

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Steam excludes many games

Which games are not included? Steam excludes games from the count for various reasons.

  • Games that are free, for example, are not included in the count, as users on Reddit unanimously report.
  • New games are also not included for a while. On the right-hand side under the age rating, new games often have the message “Steam is still collecting information about this game.” In this case, the game is not included in the count, as Steam itself reveals in the tool tip (via steamcommunity.com).
  • Most DLCs also do not count as games.
  • External games that you have added to Steam are also not counted by Steam, just like software.
  • It is therefore difficult for users to understand what the real differences are between the Steam library and the number in the profile, but there is a way to get a more accurate number.

    How do I get a more accurate number? The website Steamdb.info offers a calculator that allows you to calculate how much you would have spent on your games if you had always bought them at the lowest price or if you were to buy all the games again now.

    There you can also see how many games you own. The calculator also gives you more precise data about your account, for example how many free2play games you have and how many games you have played for how many hours. A player wants to know from a Steam competitor whether he can pass on his many games to his heirs – you answer

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