Valve issues platform-wide ban for any games that force advertising

Valve has continued its push to add more consumer protections on Steam: introducing a platform-wide ban for any games that force users to watch or engage with advertising.

The change was first sighted on Gaming on Linux, where users reported the new advertising guidelines added to the SteamWorks Documentation. The guidelines clearly outline that while product placement, cost promotions, and paid advertising outside Steam are allowed, developers cannot use paid advertising as a business model in-game. Examples cited included 'requiring players to watch or otherwise engage with advertising in order to play' or gating gameplay behind advertising.

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The move comes in direct opposition to the freemium, ad-driven model that plagues a large portion of the mobile game market. It also follows an update, released last week, that provides warnings if an early access title hasn't been updated for a duration of longer than 12 months.

It's uncertain as to which games have been affected by the ban. However, it's expected that the move comes as a clarity measure to deter developers, rather than a large-scale ban wave. A Gamingbible report in 2023, highlighted the practice of Indie game developers advertising through Steam reviews. However, this practice does not appear to fall under the scope of the new policies.

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Example of indie game developers advertising in Steam reviews (Credit: PhantomNL97)

Valve has been very explicit about its policies surrounding NFT or cryptocurrency in games, as well as the use of generative AI for games on their platform. Fortunately for PC gamers, the new guidelines will only make the Steam experience better.