Valve has banned games on Steam that force players to watch ads
Valve has published new rules that explicitly prohibit projects with in-game advertising on Steam. However, product placement is still allowed.
Valve has published new rules that explicitly prohibit projects with in-game advertising on Steam. However, product placement is still allowed.
This is reported by Eurogamer. The new rules state that developers must not use advertising as a «way to provide value to players, for example, giving players a reward for watching ads in their game.»
«Developers should not use paid advertising as a business model in their game, such as requiring players to watch or otherwise interact with ads in order to play, or closing the gameplay behind ads,» Valve explains.
It notes that if the game’s business model depends on advertising on other platforms, these elements will need to be removed before publishing on Steam. The company advises considering switching to a «paid app» with a one-time purchase or creating a free-to-play game with additional updates sold through microtransactions or downloadable content (DLC).»
Developers are also not allowed to charge other developers for access to Steam features such as sales pages, bundles, storefronts, or franchise pages.
Valve also recently introduced a useful new Steam feature that alerts users how long it’s been since a game was last updated in Early Access, helping players avoid purchasing an unfinished game that the developers may have abandoned.
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