Valve has just updated Steam’s policy when it comes to developers selling Season Passes for games, making it clear that it’s the duty of the party selling the thing to “clearly communicate” to players what any DLC included in a pass will be, and when it’ll be arriving.
As part of the new guidelines, developers or publishers that want to sell a Season Pass for their games will have make sure it includes “at least one released DLC when it is made available for purchase”.
That’s not the only requirement either, with “a complete list of all DLC included in the Pass”, an “expected release date for each DLC”, and “a basic description of the content that’s included in each DLC” also on the list.
Valve’s provided examples of what’s acceptable in terms of the latter two, with dates having to be either a season or quarter and the year (or something more precise), and descriptions just having to be rough outline of the content included. So, some thing like “new area to explore, two new weapons, and new enemies”, with the name of the DLC itself being able to changed closer to the time if the developer wishes.
“By offering a Season Pass, you are promising future content,” Valve explained regarding the new policy, “In the process of launching a Season Pass you will be asked to commit to a launch timing for each content release in the Season Pass. That launch timing is a commitment to both customers and Steam.
“If you aren’t ready to clearly communicate about the content included in each DLC AND when each DLC will be ready for launch, you shouldn’t offer a Season Pass on Steam. Selling a Season Pass has risks; since you are promising the release of future content, you have to commit to completing that content on time.”
There is one more noteworthy bit to the policy for players – what happens if a developer has to dleay or cancel a DLC included in a Season Pass you’ve bought? Well, if this happens “one time only during the Season Pass”, developers can “pick a new date up to three months later than you originally selected”, but any longer than that, and they’ve got to reach out to Valve.
Meanwhile, cancellation of a DLC in a Season Pass you’ve bought will result in you being “offered a refund for the value of unreleased DLC”, with the policy page providing more info on how that works if you want to know the nitty-gritty details.
So, there you go. How do you feel about this new Season Pass policy? Do you think it’ll make you feel more comfortable buying Season Passes? Let us know below?
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