TL;DR: Steam Achievement Sets are now live for every Steam user. Valve moved the feature out of beta in its November 11, 2026 Steam client update. Developers can now group a game’s achievements into sets (for example base game, DLC or multiplayer), each with its own progress bar and trophy. The biggest win for completionists: new achievements or DLC no longer break a game you’ve already 100%’d. There’s also a redesigned achievements page that lets you compare progress with up to three friends.
Steam Achievement Sets fix one of the oldest annoyances on PC gaming’s biggest store. Until now, if a game you’d fully completed got a new expansion or a seasonal update with fresh achievements, your perfect completion percentage dropped overnight. Valve’s new system splits achievements into groups so that extra content shows up as extra progress instead of undoing what you already earned. Here’s how Achievement Sets work, what changed on the achievements page and how to check whether your games support them.
What are Steam Achievement Sets?
In Valve’s announcement, Achievement Sets are described as a way to organise achievements “within a game, making it easier for players to track their progress and discover new achievements as games add them.” Developers decide how many sets their game has and what each one is for.
Valve’s own examples from the October beta: one game might split its achievements into single-player and multiplayer sets, while another could use eight class-based sets. You still unlock achievements by playing normally. The difference is how Steam shows them afterwards, as tidy groups instead of one long list.
The two types of sets
| Set type | Who can earn it | How it’s shown |
|---|---|---|
| Base Game sets | Every player who owns and plays the game | Progress and trophies displayed in blue on your achievements page |
| DLC sets | Players who own the related DLC | Tracked separately from the base game, with their own progress |
What changed for players
According to Valve’s release notes, here’s what the public rollout brings:
- Progress by set: each achievement set has its own progress bar and its own trophy when you finish it.
- Completion stays intact: if new achievements are added to a game, Valve says they won’t break previously completed sets or take away your game completion.
- DLC achievements are separate: achievements can be tied to DLC and grouped into their own sets, so a paid expansion doesn’t drag down your base-game percentage.
- Retired achievements: developers can archive or retire achievements and sets that are no longer available. Players who earned them keep them, and they no longer block future players from completing the game.
The redesigned achievements page
The update also rebuilds Steam’s achievements page. As Noisy Pixel and Mixed News report, it brings together overall game progress, progress for each set, detailed achievement info, global stats and expanded search and filters. You can also compare your progress with up to three friends at once, using a more accurate total achievement count.
Why this matters for completionists
Games live much longer than they used to. Many get seasons, expansions and free updates for years. That’s great for players, but it made achievement completion a moving target. Valve said as much when it opened the beta in October: achievements added with new content “can be hard to discover and can accidentally break the completion status of players who have already finished the game.”
With sets, a game can show “Base Game: 100%” with a trophy, and a new DLC set at 0% next to it. Your earlier work stays visibly finished, and the new content becomes a fresh goal instead of a penalty.
Which games support Achievement Sets?
Sets only appear in games whose developers have added them, so you won’t see them everywhere straight away. Valve’s original beta announcement listed several games that adopted sets early, according to Mixed News:
- Portal 2
- DREDGE
- Euro Truck Simulator 2
- Forza Horizon 5
Mixed News also notes that the system doesn’t mean every game will instantly split its existing achievements into base-game and DLC sections. Valve provides the tools, and each developer decides how to group its own achievements.
How to see Achievement Sets on your account
You don’t need to opt into anything. Here’s what to do:
- Let Steam update. The November 11 client update downloads automatically. Restart Steam if it’s been open for a while.
- Open a game in your library. Pick one of the supported titles above for the clearest example.
- Go to its achievements page. If the developer has added sets, you’ll see separate groups, each with its own progress bar and trophy.
- Compare with friends. Use the new comparison view to line your progress up against up to three friends.
Mixed News reports the update also applies to the Steam Deck client, so handheld players get the same layout.
If you like keeping your gaming profile tidy, our guide to Xbox profile privacy settings shows how to control who sees your achievements and activity on Xbox too.
Other changes in the same Steam update
PCGamesN reports the November update also includes improvements to Big Picture mode, Remote Play and Linux support. Notifications should now more consistently respect per-friend settings, the activity feed works better offline, and the store’s text search has been improved. There’s new controller support for GameInput v4, and a fix for the custom “Joystick Power Curve” setting, which PCGamesN says wasn’t working properly before. If you use that setting, it’s worth checking it again.
Quick timeline
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| October 15, 2026 | Valve launches Steam Achievement Sets in the Steam Client beta |
| November 11, 2026 | Achievement Sets and the new achievements page go live for all Steam users |
The bottom line
Steam Achievement Sets are a small change with a big payoff for anyone who chases 100% completion. Grouped achievements, separate DLC tracking and protected completion status mean new content finally adds to your progress instead of erasing it. The catch is that it’s up to developers to adopt it, so expect support to grow game by game. With a busy launch season ahead, including GTA 6 later this month on consoles, it’s a good time to see which games in your library already use it. And if you’re upgrading your setup, our guide to RAM vs VRAM explains what actually matters for gaming performance.
Sources
- Steam News: Steam Achievement Sets now available to everyone
- PCGamesN: Redesigned Steam Achievements now live for all
- Mixed News: Steam rolls out Achievement Sets to everyone
- Noisy Pixel: Steam Achievement Sets now available to all users
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