Valve Bans Steam Games With Forced Ads

Valve doesn’t want Steam to turn into a mobile games outlet, as it bans games with forced advertisements from the platform. While this won’t stop product placement and similar promotions, it does mean that you won’t be made to pause the action and watch an ad to keep playing.

As first spotted by GamingOnLinux (thanks, Eurogamer), Valve has just updated its terms of service to reflect this, now adding restrictions on how ads in games can be implemented, and how publishers can monetise their games. Now, if a game is monetised through ads, like the ones mobile games make us sit through to keep playing or earn currency, then it cannot be released on Steam.

Mobile Game-Like Advertisements Banned From Steam Games

If a game makes you sit through ads before you can keep playing, it can’t launch on Steam

“Developers should not utilize paid advertising as a business model in their game, such as requiring players to watch or otherwise engage with advertising in order to play, or gating gameplay behind advertising,” read the updated rules on Steam. Valve explains that these elements will have to be “removed” before a Steam launch is permitted.

The rules go further, seemingly getting rid of any loopholes: “Developers should not use advertising as a way to provide value to players, such as giving players a reward for watching or engaging with advertising in their game.”

This will likely come as a relief to many, as mobile games have a negative reputation for being crammed with these kinds of ads, as the last thing anyone will want is to see this spread elsewhere. Many will make you sit through them to gain currency or lives in a game, while charging you if you want to skip them. So, while microtransactions are still allowed, they cannot be incentivised through ads. Any game that goes will either have to scrap them or find another way to make us part with our cash.

Steam

Brand

Valve

Original Release Date

September 12, 2003

Original MSRP (USD)

N/A