Valve explicitly bans games that force players to watch ads

Valve has once again done something that will greatly please gamers. The company has banned the distribution of games on Steam that force users to watch ads.

Adrian Werner

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Source: Valve

Valve Corporation has just changed the game distribution rules on the Steam platform, introducing new regulations that should be very appealing to players.

From now on, titles that force players to watch ads or interact with them won't be allowed for distribution on Steam.

  1. This applies to both situations where watching or interactions are required to continue the game, as well as those where it only provides access to additional elements, such as rewards.
  2. Valve explains that games that use such solutions must change them. The company recommends that developers rework their creations into classic paid titles or use the traditional free-to-play model with microtransactions.
  3. Furthermore, Valve prohibits companies from charging other developers for access to Steam features, such as sale pages, bundles, store sites, or franchise pages.

These are all very good changes. Especially those related to advertisements should appeal to players. There are tons of games on the mobile market that force you to watch videos promoting other products, and such solutions simply don't fit into the PC market. So it's good that Valve decided to curb these types of practices on Steam before they had a chance to become a real problem.

These aren't the only beneficial changes recently introduced by Valve. Last week, a new feature was added on Steam, which displays a warning when an Early Access game has not been updated for a long time.

  1. Steam website
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Adrian Werner

Author: Adrian Werner

A true veteran of the Gamepressure newsroom, writing continuously since 2009 and still not having enough. He caught the gaming bug thanks to playing on his friend's ZX Spectrum. Then he switched to his own Commodore 64, and after a short adventure with 16-bit consoles, he forever entrusted his heart to PC games. A fan of niche productions, especially adventure games, RPGs and games of the immersive sim genre, as well as a mod enthusiast. Apart from games, he devourers stories in every form - books, series, movies, and comics.

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