Valve Introduces New Page for Steam Advertising Policy

Valve has launched a new webpage that outlines the company's advertising guidelines for Steam, offering developers clarity on what types of ads are permitted and prohibited on the platform. The policy, which has been in effect for five years, was previously located on the Pricing page but has now been relocated to its own dedicated page on Steamworks. This move aims to provide developers with explicit examples of acceptable and unacceptable advertising practices in games distributed through Steam. According to Valve, Steam itself does not display paid advertisements, nor does it support ad models in games. The company acknowledges the potential for confusion regarding what constitutes 'advertising' in a game and provides examples to guide developers. Examples of allowed advertising include product placement, provided it is not disruptive and is contextually appropriate. Cross-promotions are also encouraged, as they can provide value to customers. However, Valve stresses that under no circumstances should developers charge other developers to participate in bundles or sell access to Steam pages. The company emphasizes that developers should not rely on paid advertising as a primary business model. This includes requiring players to engage with ads to play the game or using advertising as a means to gate gameplay. If a game's business model relies on such practices, these elements must be removed before the game can be released on Steam. Additionally, players should not receive rewards for watching or interacting with in-game ads. This update follows the recent introduction of a feature on Steam that warns players when early access games have not received recent updates.