“Valve Launches New Portal for Streamlined Selling Guidelines”

Valve has launched a specific page that guides developers on the types of marketing that are acceptable and those that are not on Steam.

Notably mentioned by GamingonLinux and SteamDB, this policy has been established for 5 years and was previously found on its Pricing page. Now, Valve has relocated its advertising regulations to a dedicated page on Steamworks, providing illustrations of which types of advertisements are allowed and which are not within video games.

“Steam does not include any paid advertising, nor do supported models exist in games distributed through Steam,” it states.

“There are various interpretations regarding what qualifies as ‘advertising’ in a game, so these examples are intended to assist developers in understanding what is and isn’t accepted on Steam.”

One example is product placement, which is permitted on the platform “as long as such representations are not intrusive and are suitable within the context of the game.”

Additionally, Valve mentions that cross-promotions are “encouraged and many users appreciate them.” The company clarifies that “under no circumstances is it acceptable to charge other developers for inclusion in a bundle or to sell access to a promotional page or any other page on Steam.”

Conversely, Valve stresses that developers “should not employ paid advertising as a revenue model,” similar to “obliging players to view or otherwise.”