Frequently asked questions

A free, independent Steam database for player charts, regional prices, sales and game updates. GaugeDB is not affiliated with Valve or Steam.

Purchases and downloads are handled by Steam. GaugeDB does not sell game keys or host game downloads. An install or launch link opens the Steam client; it does not give you a licence to a paid game.

You can browse, compare games and use the Steam account calculator without one. Sign in with Steam to save games, manage your watchlist and set up alerts. Steam handles sign-in; GaugeDB never receives your Steam password.

GaugeDB’s catalogue and history are still growing. A game may not be collected yet, may appear under a different name, or may no longer have a public store listing. Missing results do not prove a game is unavailable. If a value looks wrong, report a correction with the Steam app ID or store link, the GaugeDB page and the source you expect it to match.

No. Steam followers are a separate measure from wishlists, owners and players. Most wishlisted shows Steam’s public Top Wishlists order; Steam does not publish the underlying wishlist counts there. GaugeDB’s follower figures describe collected follower observations, not an estimate of wishlist totals or sales. Check each ranking’s source, scope and observation time.

Game information, prices and player counts primarily come from Steam. Streaming information can come from Twitch and Kick. Some historical records come from credited datasets; coverage varies by source and game.

Concurrent players: how many people Steam reports playing an app at the time of a reading. It is not a count of owners, sales or unique daily players, and does not include players on other platforms. A recorded peak is the highest count in GaugeDB’s available observations.

Player counts, prices and game details refresh on separate schedules. Check the observation or update time beside the relevant data. Collection delays and cached results can leave a figure behind Steam’s current value.

History builds as we collect data, with some gaps filled by credited archives. Coverage varies by game and region. Missing readings are not zero, and a recorded low or peak may not cover the game’s entire lifetime.

Sites may start tracking a game at different times, collect at different intervals or use different archives. A brief peak can fall between readings. Compare the recorded period and observation time before treating two figures as the same measurement.

Top Rated uses a Wilson score that considers both positive reviews and the number of reviews. It gives more weight to a well-established result than a high percentage based on a small sample. The ranking uses collected review snapshots; it is not simply Steam’s positive-review percentage.

No. Game changes can include metadata, prices, branches and build observations. A build change records a Steam update identifier; it does not explain the contents or prove a patch reached every player. Publisher posts appear separately in News & updates. Missing history does not establish that a game never changed.

Steam may not expose a public player count before release. Tracking some prerelease games requires verified game access. Missing data does not mean nobody is playing, and a Coming soon label alone does not establish Advance Access.

• Free-to-play: no upfront game price; optional purchases may still exist.
• Free-to-keep: claim the offered licence on Steam before the deadline to keep it after the promotion.
• Free weekend: temporary access to the game; continued access normally requires buying it after the event.
• Demo: a separate trial version, not ownership of the full game.

The Free page shows recorded offers. Confirm the type, region, claim requirements and current deadline on Steam; an expired or missing offer is not a new giveaway.

Prices depend on your store country and can change between checks. Choose your country using the store and time settings in the footer. A game, package and bundle can have different offers; confirm the exact product and final price on Steam before buying.

The lowest price GaugeDB has observed for that product in the relevant store region. It is not a guarantee of the lowest price ever offered. Missing history, other regions, bundles and third-party offers can give a different comparison.

The sale calendar lists recorded event dates, not guaranteed discounts. Publishers choose participation and prices. Previous offers can provide context, but do not confirm a future deal; a themed fest may include games that are not discounted.

Sign in and open Settings → Account data to download the account export. It includes your profile, watchlist, collections, preferences and other listed account records, plus up to the latest 100 notifications; it is not a complete export of provider logs or security records.

Delete account requires typing DELETE to confirm. It removes the account and related data, including email contact and delivery records, from the active application database. It does not delete your Steam account, emails already sent, browser storage, backups or independent provider records. See retention and deletion for the limits or contact GaugeDB for a wider request.

Watching saves a game to your GaugeDB watchlist, where you can manage price targets and alerts. Following tracks developers, publishers, tags and franchises in the Following tab for new games, releases, official updates and discounts, according to your preferences. These are GaugeDB account choices; they do not change your Steam wishlist or purchase a game.

Set your price target and alert preferences in the watchlist, then verify an email address and enable delivery in Settings. Alerts use the watched game’s configured store and currency, and can notify you when a target is reached or a discount increases. Delivery can be unavailable or paused; an alert is not a reservation or a guarantee that an offer is still available.

No. The calculator adds saved regional prices for priced games in a public library snapshot. It cannot see what you paid for sales, bundles, gifts or keys. Missing prices are reported in coverage, and lowest recorded value falls back to the saved current price when history is missing.

Your Steam profile and Game details must be public. After changing those Steam privacy settings, use Reload profile on the calculator result to request a fresh snapshot. Public-profile lookup does not link that profile to your GaugeDB account. See the privacy notice for saved-data details.

The calculator uses a saved public-library snapshot. Steam’s library, profile and API can treat free games, DLC and removed products differently. Missing catalogue or regional-price records also affect valuation; the result shows coverage instead of estimating missing values.

Verified is Valve’s compatibility assessment for Steam Deck, not a GaugeDB performance test or a promise of a particular frame rate on every setting. Playable can require manual adjustments; Unsupported means Valve currently marks the game as not functional on Deck. Unknown can mean Valve has not assessed it or GaugeDB has no recorded rating.

GaugeDB shows collected device-specific ratings; a Deck rating does not establish compatibility with every PC or SteamOS device. Publisher system requirements are separate guidance, not measured performance. Check the game’s current Steam compatibility details and Valve’s rating guide before choosing hardware or settings.

An app is a Steam product, such as a game, DLC, demo or software. A package grants licences to one or more apps. A bundle groups products into an offer; some bundles adjust the price for items you already own. Compare the contents as well as the price.

A depot groups files distributed by Steam, often for a particular platform, language or DLC. A branch is a release channel, such as public or beta. A build identifies an app update, while a manifest identifies a depot’s file listing. Recorded identifiers do not grant access to game files or private branches.

Yes. The Developer API provides saved Steam player, library and calculator data. Sign in with Steam and request developer access. Approved accounts can create API keys, read the documentation and track usage. Authenticated requests use a bearer key; limits depend on the account and key configuration.

Use the developer access process for API projects and read the terms of use. Public visibility does not grant unrestricted reuse of third-party material. Archived datasets retain their original licences and attribution requirements, listed in the source notices. Contact GaugeDB if your intended use is not covered.

Historical player counts from 2017–2020 include the Steam Games Dataset, version 1 by Dulakshi Wannigamage, Michael Barlow, Erandi Lakshika and Kathryn Kasmarik (2020), published on Mendeley Data under CC BY 4.0. We normalize UTC timestamps, omit invalid or missing counts, and add missing records without replacing existing observations. Coverage varies by game; gaps are not zeros.

Missing catalogue facts also use this dataset and CC0 datasets from Joe Beach and Trolukovich. We normalize supported fields and omit conflicting values. These sources do not imply endorsement of GaugeDB by their authors.

Catalogue gap fills also use Nik Davis’s Steam Store Games (2019) and Crawlora’s Steam Catalog Dataset — State of Steam 2026 under CC BY 4.0, plus Anton Kozyriev’s Game Recommendations on Steam under CC0. We select factual catalogue fields, normalize values, omit conflicts and malformed links, and fill empty fields only. Archive facts may be outdated.

Additional catalogue sources include VintageDon’s Steam Dataset 2025, MikeKzan’s Steam Games and DLCs, Luiz Fernando’s Steam app and community-tag data, and SteamFPS’s SteamOS Playability Dataset, under CC BY 4.0. We select factual fields, match app identities, omit conflicting or unverified values, and fill gaps only. Deck categories originate from Valve; derived performance estimates are not imported. Sources may be outdated and do not endorse GaugeDB.

We also use factual catalogue data from Hubert Sidorowicz and Artemiy Ermilov under MIT, and Jypen under CC0. See the source and licence notices.