We, the volunteer Steam moderators, are being retired starting tomorrow.

What started as a fairly small company with less than 1 million users on the old forums (SPUF), and a tight knit community, comes to an end on the 'new' forums - more akin to the size of Twitter and in no way comparable.

It was a long time coming, we were never really able to keep up with all the reports and help was needed. Valve added paid moderators along the way and outsourced it like they did with Steam Support, which at this scale (sadly) is the only way to moderate. Valve feels confident that the path forward is solely with paid moderators they feel they must retire the volunteer moderation program and thanked us for our services. Each game is also still free to have their own moderators.

We acted as a liaison already in most recent years, albeit most of us where already retired or simply plain inactive, as employees left and changed and the way Valve undertakes things did to.

On the bright side, at least there won't be any complaints about who handed out a ban anymore, although I have already seen conspiracies that we are actually Support agents too ;)

We want to thank all of you for your support and the trust you put in us to moderate this platform and make things better for everyone, and the help we were able to provide as a result. We all have some unforgettable moments we will carry with us and will still be providing feedback to moderators and other hubs.