Valve Prohibits the Mention of "non-Steam versions" of Games

[Uskompuf]

Valve has recently updated it's Steam Community Hub policies to prohibit the mentioning of non-Steam versions of games, this likely comes as competition increases in the largely stagnant PC gaming market from the likes of the Epic Games Store, and Xbox Game Pass for PC. This will mean that the Steam Community Hub will no longer include mentions to releases on other platforms. These new rules apply to both releases and DLC effectively stopping the promotion of other platforms on Steam.

In the game you ship via Steam, and in communications on Steam, you may only promote the Steam version and its availability via Steam, and not other distribution outlets. This applies both to full versions of your game and to content patches that change the existing version.

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[bogami]

Very mature attitude towards users, does not !

 

[Calmmo]

Steam's services support forums/news were being used by certain developers to promote and support other platforms while the game existed on steam as a placeholder with a TDB release.
If anything they took too long to make a move against that.

 

[ZeppMan217]

Very mature attitude towards users, does not !

Welcome to McDonalds! Would you like to see the KFC menu?

 

[huguberhart]

Welcome to McDonalds! Would you like to see the KFC menu?

But they sell different stuff.. don't they? You can't really make up an analogy for this situation.

 

[ZoneDymo]

withholding information is something dictators do....
that said, it makes sense that you dont want to advertice other platforms on your platform.

Idk, they need to find some middle ground somehow imo.

 

[watzupken]

Perhaps EPIC will also file a lawsuit against Steam in this case.

 

[m4dn355]

I would rather mention non-denuvo-steam versions of games.

 

[basco]

you are allowed to say anything but........................ these are our exemptions.
nice direction we are going - i think it is backwards

 

[ZeppMan217]

But they sell different stuff.. don't they? You can't really make up an analogy for this situation.

Both sell Coke, yet MCD's Coke doesn't say "courtesy of KFC" on the cup, and KFC's doesn't say "courtesy of MCD".

 

[bubbleawsome]

I imagine it also has something to do with more 18+ games advertising their patches offsite, which really bypasses steams moderation of content.

 

[Aretak]

Very mature attitude towards users, does not !

A bunch of publishers have been using Steam to promote games which they've taken Epic's money for to have them being exclusive to the EGS for a year, promoting the fact that the game is available outside of Steam and using Steam's forums to provide support for a game that's not even on Steam. How is that in any way fair or something that Valve should tolerate in your mind?

 

[Hemmingstamp]

How I miss the days of a CD-ROM single player game.

 

[TheUn4seen]

you are allowed to say anything but........................ these are our exemptions.
nice direction we are going - i think it is backwards

well, if you come to my house and start to talk about certain subjects I will ask you to leave. If you come to my company and start advertising yours without paying me, I will make you leave immediately. People seem to misunderstand what free speech and speech suppression actually mean and seem to think that "if you can't talk about whatever you want wherever you want = suppression of free speech". This doesn't work like that, and if you go to, say, Steam Support Forums and see rampant advertising of Epic Store or off-Steam downloads existing only to deprive the platform of it's main source of income or to circumvent the rules regarding pornographic content, Valve is absolutely in the right to make it stop.

 

[Pumper]

you are allowed to say anything but........................ these are our exemptions.
nice direction we are going - i think it is backwards

As opposed to Epic, where you don't even have a space to say anything in the first place? This is a good move by Valve, they are not obligated to provide a platform for customer support of EGS exclusive games.

 

[medi01]

I imagine it also has something to do with more 18+ games advertising their patches offsite, which really bypasses steams moderation of content.

Yeah, totally and obviously it is in the interests of the gamers, competition with a <can't be named> store that is charging <figure can't be called out> has absolutely nothing to do with it.

This is a good move by Valve, they are not obligated to provide a platform for customer support of EGS exclusive games.

How could that affect EGS exclusive games, oh, the bright one?

 

[rtwjunkie]

So, is this preventing users from mentioning a game is wlsewhere, or asking about it elsewhere? Something I see much more than the Epic example above are people asking about or describing something about the GOG version, or asking the dev if there will be a GOG version. Add to that, in the Beyond A Steel Sky discussions, mentions was made numerous times for younger players to play Beneath a Steel Sky for free on GOG so they would have better context.

Is this banning all those things, since Discussions fall under Community Hub, or only devs/publishers mentioning other stores?

 

[ZeppMan217]

So, is this preventing users from mentioning a game is wlsewhere, or asking about it elsewhere? Something I see much more than the Epic example above are people asking about or describing something about the GOG version, or asking the dev if there will be a GOG version. Add to that, in the Beyond A Steel Sky discussions, mentions was made numerous times for younger players to play Beneath a Steel Sky for free on GOG so they would have better context.

Is this banning all those things, since Discussions fall under Community Hub, or only devs/publishers mentioning other stores?

Steam Community (Steamworks Documentation)

partner.steamgames.com

Q: Can I use the Steam community to let customers know of non-Steam versions of my game?

A: In the game you ship via Steam, and in communications on Steam, you may only promote the Steam version and its availability via Steam, and not other distribution outlets. This applies both to full versions of your game and to content patches that change the existing version.

This is a dev/pub rule only, regular users are welcome to discuss whatever they want.

 

[mgilbert]

And they wonder why people pirate games they've actually paid for, rather than put up with this kind of BS...

 

[huguberhart]

Both sell Coke, yet MCD's Coke doesn't say "courtesy of KFC" on the cup, and KFC's doesn't say "courtesy of MCD".

They do sell it, but it's still not quite as simple as "food and drinks at different fast foods", is it?

 

[neatfeatguy]

How I miss the days of a CD-ROM single player game.

I just picked up a copy of Dungeon Siege II expansion. I wasn't a big fan of Dungeon Siege II (thought it was a step backwards from the first one), but it'll be something to keep me busy. Install the games off my CDs/DVDs and away I go!

 

[Paganstomp]

 

[dragontamer5788]

Welcome to McDonalds! Would you like to see the KFC menu?

This is closer to a McDonalds banning KFC discussion from the restaraunt.

 

[Rean]

It seems that Valve has found the downside to having integrated community pages.

I expect them to start requiring any new game listings to come with a commitment to have their initial launch on Steam as well.

 

[skizzo]

This is closer to a McDonalds banning KFC discussion from the restaraunt.

Agreed, you have the more appropriate analogy there! It's a bogus request

Steam Community (Steamworks Documentation)

partner.steamgames.com

This is a dev/pub rule only, regular users are welcome to discuss whatever they want.

In my experience devs routinely answer questions about "when is the console release" or "will there be a GOG version" etc. They respond with their answers for all to see....
I cannot imagine being banned from mentioning other forms of the same game title. At least in this sort of context, ie, discussions within the specific games' forum

Where I could see this having any merit is if the dev is actually advertising a non Steam form of the game on Steam....such as blatantly posting a link in the main description section that says "DRM FREE GOG VERSION - CLICK HERE!"
Though this would give an advantage to the developer and publisher by making sure all potential users know of the various outlets they can acquire the game through, Valve/Steam would obviously be pissed about dev/pub actively advertising to purchase said game from another distributor. It would mean Valve/Steam could end up with less sales because users went to other outlets, hence they would be upset

So I think that is one of the few situations I could agree this new rule is justified. Otherwise it is heavy handed and will be difficult to enforce without employing moderators who specifically look for this stuff....especially if they are told to read deep into threads to find random mentionings and links of non steam versions.