Steam Reinforces Its Stance on Paid Promotions: A Call for Ethical Game Development

Steam has highlighted one of its policies that prohibits games utilizing paid advertising as a business model or employing ads to “provide benefits to players” more prominently.

Last night, GamingOnLinux observed the policy on Steam’s advertising page. Initially, it was thought to be a new rule, but SteamDB clarified that it has been in effect for “at least five years,” and has just now become more visible.

The guideline states: “Developers must not implement paid advertising as a business model within their games, such as necessitating players to watch or interact with ads to play, or restricting gameplay behind advertisements.”

Additionally, it mentions: “Developers should not leverage advertising as a means to add value for players, such as rewarding players for watching or interacting with advertisements in their game.”

Forced ads or the option to view ads to earn power-ups or bypass time restrictions have become prevalent in free-to-play mobile games. However, Steam, which dominates the PC gaming market, does not seem to support this trend.

Steam advises developers relying on this for revenue to consider charging for their games upfront or incorporating microtransactions. While microtransactions can be contentious, most would agree they are the lesser of two evils.

Creating games is expensive, so I understand why developers and studio executives want to monetize them post-launch, even though I dislike any microtransactions that aren’t cosmetic. At least with many of them, you often feel as if you’re receiving something of value for your money—be it DLC that expands the story or a new level in a fighting game. However, if you must watch ads merely to play, it feels like wasting valuable time. I’m truly glad that Steam has clarified its position on this practice.

While you’re here, check out the best PC games you might enjoy playing.