Steam Achievement Sets: How DLC Completion Now Works

Steam Achievement Sets are here, and if you are the kind of player who chases that 100% badge, this might be the most satisfying Steam update in years. Valve opened the beta on October 15, letting developers split a game's achievements into separate sets, each with its own progress bar and its own completion trophy. Translation: DLC achievements no longer hold your base-game completion hostage.

• Beta access: Achievement Sets are live in the current Steam Client beta, per Valve's announcement on October 15.
• Color coding: Base Game sets show progress and trophies in blue; DLC sets use purple.
• Fairer completion: DLC achievements do not count toward your overall progress until you actually own that content.
• Early adopters: VGC lists 17 games already using sets, including Portal 2, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Forza Horizon 5, DREDGE and Crusader Kings III.

What Are Steam Achievement Sets?

Until now, every Steam game had one long achievement list. Buy the base game, finish everything, and then a season pass drops 20 new achievements and your shiny completion vanishes like a save file without autosave. Achievement Sets fix that by letting developers group achievements however they like.

A developer might create one set for the main campaign, one for each expansion and one for multiplayer. Finish everything in a set and Steam adds a "set complete" trophy to your profile. Better still, VGC reports that if a developer adds new achievements to a set later, your trophy stays put. You earned it, you keep it.

How Do Archived Achievements Work?

This is the sleeper feature. Developers can now archive single achievements or entire sets, which Valve suggests for things players can no longer unlock, such as seasonal holiday events or multiplayer achievements after servers wind down.

• If you already earned it: it stays on your profile as a little piece of gaming history.
• If you missed it: it disappears from your list and no longer blocks set or game completion.

That is a huge quality-of-life win for older games with retired online modes, and it fixes one of the oldest frustrations in completionist culture.

Can You Compare Achievements With Friends?

Yes, and it is much richer than before. The new achievements page lets you compare progress with up to three friends at once, including rare achievements, completed sets and DLC progress. Because each player's total is based on what they can actually earn, a friend without the DLC is not penalized for missing it.

A few other tidy changes ride along:

• "Perfect Games" becomes "Completed": the profile tab now shows both fully completed games and games where you have finished achievement sets.
• Global stats are a toggle: per-achievement unlock percentages now live on the same page instead of a separate screen.

If you enjoy the hunt on console too, our guide to Xbox Mythic achievements and the completion badge shows how Microsoft is approaching the same itch.

Which Games Support Achievement Sets Now?

VGC's list of early adopters spans a great mix: Against the Storm, Age of Wonders 4, American Truck Simulator, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Crusader Kings III, DREDGE, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Forza Horizon 5, Flock Around, He is Coming, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, PowerWash Simulator, PowerWash Simulator 2, Team Fortress 2 and Victoria 3. More are expected as developers adopt the new tools.

To try it, opt in to the Steam Client beta from Steam's settings, then open the achievements page of any supported game.

Why This Is Great for Players and Developers

Valve has been on a player-friendly streak lately, including releasing the Steam Frame CAD files for modders. Achievement Sets fit the same pattern: small, thoughtful changes that respect how people actually play. Studios get a cleaner way to celebrate new content, and players get completion goals that finally feel fair. Grab your trophy polish and keep up with more gaming news here.

Sources: Steam News: Steam Achievement Sets Now in Beta — October 15, 2026; VGC — October 16, 2026; PC Gamer — October 15, 2026.