Valve Bans Games With In-Game Ads From Steam

by

According to Gaming on Linux, Valve‘s guide for developers using Steamwork has been updated with a new section about advertising policies. In this update, the company clarifies which types of promotions and advertisements are acceptable on Steam and strictly prohibits in-game ads as a primary method of earning revenue across its entire gaming platform.

In games, product placements can continue if they don’t interfere too much or feel out of place within the context of the game. However, titles with in-game advertisements that obstruct gameplay and require players to watch ads before progressing have been prohibited starting from now.

About this, Valve explains:

Developers should not use paid advertising as a business model in their game, such as requiring players to watch or otherwise engage with advertising in order to play.

To illustrate games that aren’t impacted by advertisements, Valve provides an example of a racing game featuring real-world sponsors on the vehicles. Since these partnerships don’t disrupt the player’s gameplay in any manner, Valve wouldn’t feel compelled to prohibit such a game.

It’s fine for ads not on Steam to direct users to a store page, and cross-promotions are also acceptable. However, it’s essential to note that under no circumstances is it appropriate to ask developers to pay for inclusion in a bundle or access to their store page or any other page on Steam.

In essence, it appears these changes aren’t in response to any immediate issue or update, as there aren’t many (in fact, none) games on Steam currently using ads that are now banned. Instead, it seems like a proactive measure.

Do you mind in-game ads as a cost for a game to be free-to-play?

Read More

2025-02-10 17:09