A massive group of PC players is calling for a major visual cleanup of their digital collections to remove distracting legal symbols. Steam has spent years refining its interface for millions of users who want an organized digital shelf. However, even as Valve improves the overall look, some old aesthetic issues continue to annoy the community, especially those with massive libraries. Fans of Steam have a lot to look forward to as the platform evolves, but this request focuses on the basic way games appear in personal lists.
The frustration often comes from how the PC gaming world has changed over the last ten years. For a long time, the platform has seen more "launcher-in-launcher" setups, where buying a game on one store requires installing a second one. Major publishers have shifted their plans, bringing titles back to Valve's platform while still requiring apps like the EA App or Ubisoft Connect. This has created a messy experience where technical bloat and extra software often get in the way of actually playing a game.
Thousands of Steam Users Call for New Feature to Be Added to the Platform
Thousands of Steam users take to social media to call for Valve to add a simple but potentially highly useful feature to its PC launcher.
A Library Full of "Legal Slop"
According to a viral post on the Steam subreddit with over 15,000 upvotes, the trademark (™) and registered (®) symbols in game titles are a huge source of annoyance. In the original thread, one user said they're not happy to see this "legal slop" cluttering their list. Many players feel these symbols make the library look "messy" and "unprofessional," as they put corporate legal needs over a clean user experience.
The problem is more than just an eyesore; it actually ruins how libraries are organized. According to a detailed thread on the Steam Community forums, users pointed out that games like Assassin's Creed 3 often use the ® symbol, while other entries in the same series do not. This inconsistency makes certain titles jump to the top of an alphabetical list, breaking the order of a franchise. Similar complaints target titles like Batman: Arkham Origins and Far Cry 3, with players arguing that while these marks might be needed on a store page, they have no place in a private collection.
Publishers often feel obligated to use these symbols to protect their brands. According to self-proclaimed legal experts on the Steam forums, failing to give notice of a registered trademark under laws like 15 USC §1111 can sometimes limit the money a company can win in future lawsuits. Despite this, gamers have wanted a "clean names" option for years. Some have even used third-party tools like Steam Edit or manual file changes to scrub the symbols themselves.
In response to these calls for better organization, Valve added a new tab to Steam's game properties menu—"Customization." This update lets users set a custom sort name, which fixes alphabetical order without relying on publisher names. For example, a player can rename The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition to just Skyrim, so it shows up under "S" where it belongs.
One of the most praised parts of this feature is the ability to fix series that are out of order. Players are finally using these tools to put titles like Yakuza and Like A Dragon into the correct chronological order. This tool also helps users remove "legal dongles," such as trademark symbols, and all-caps titles like ELDEN RING. The push for cleaner libraries is also about fighting system bloat, since modern launchers often use heavy software frameworks that eat up a lot of RAM.
While Valve’s new customization features are a great step, many gamers believe the industry still has a long way to go. The ability to hide a trademark symbol or fix a sort order is a welcome change, but as long as single-player games are tied to always-online launchers and data tracking, the community will likely stay frustrated. For now, players can at least be happy that their libraries can finally look how they want them to, without the clutter of corporate symbols.