Valve Enforces Ban on Steam Games Aiding Gamers in Uncovering Classified Ads
By Valve has established unique regulations concerning sales, explicitly banning video games that compel players to view in-game advertisements.
The novel regulations from Valve – posted online and initially reported by Gaming on Linux – clarify that while in-game advertising and product placement are allowed, games that require players to view or interact with advertisements to play must not be permitted.
Additionally, silent developers should not use advertising as a “means to provide benefits to players, such as granting rewards for viewing or engaging with ads within their game”.
“Developers must not employ paid advertising as a revenue model within their game, such as requiring players to watch or interact with ads to play, or restricting gameplay behind advertisements,” the regulations state.
“If your game’s revenue model depends on advertising on external platforms, you must eliminate those components before launching on Steam. You might consider changing to a one-time purchase ‘paid app’, or making your game free-to-play with optional upgrades available through microtransactions or downloadable content (DLC).”
While many of us might associate this type of behavior more with mobile games than those found on Steam, Valve clearly deemed it crucial to specify, in straightforward language, “what is and is not permissible on Steam”.
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