Valve has a new dedicated page that explains what types of advertisements are supported and not supported on Steam.
Steam has always had these advertising rules. However, recently, a new page spotted by Gaming on Linux has appeared to explain these rules and clarify that the platform doesn’t contain paid advertising or models. The page also explains what constitutes “advertising” in a game, what types of ads developers can implement, and what advertisements shouldn’t be in the game.
What types of ads are allowed on Steam?
Steam allows ads with product placement, which includes “real brands, products, personalities, etc., as part of gameplay.” This advertising is accepted when it does not disrupt anything and matches the context of the game—for example, sponsor logos in sports games like football, Formula 1, and more.
Cross-promotions are also allowed, such as promoting bundles, sale events, and more. Players can also include other Steam products or products/brands outside of Steam; however, it’s not allowed “to charge other developers to participate in a bundle or to sell access to a sale page or other page on Steam.” Lastly, developers can also run paid advertising campaigns to increase traffic to their Steam product pages.
What types of ads are not allowed on Steam?
Coming to the ads that will lead to your game being banned on Steam. Devs are not allowed to “utilize paid advertising as a business model in their game,” meaning you can’t entice players into watching ads to play or gate gameplay behind it.
If the game’s business model depends on advertising, the developers must remove those elements before releasing it on Steam. They can also create a single-purchase “paid app” or use microtransactions and DLCs by making the game free to play.
Moreover, the wrong use of advertising, such as creating value for the player, will not be allowed. This means developers can’t put rewards or unique content behind ads on Steam games. Lastly, developers cannot “charge other developers for access to Steam features. These include sale pages, bundles, store pages, franchise pages, etc.”
In other news, Steam now warns players before they purchase an “abandoned” game. Also, Wreckfest 2 is arriving on the platform on March 20. What are your thoughts on Valve’s advertising rules for Steam games? Let us know in the comments or on our new community forum!
For more information from Insider Gaming, read what Battlefield 6 should learn from the previous instalment. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
