Summary
- Steam no longer permits ‘paid advertising’ as a revenue model for games listed on the platform.
- Games cannot force players to interact with ads or incentivize players to watch ads by offering them rewards.
Steam has tweaked its advertising policy to highlight a rule that prevents developers from incorporating forced ads into their games. With this change, Valve has ensured that developers who release their titles on Steam are more aware of the kinds of advertising allowed on its storefront.
For a number of game developers, in-game ads are their biggest source of revenue and the basis of their monetization model. While non-intrusive ads don’t usually impact a game’s immersion, some force the player to watch them in order to continue playing. Although such forced ads are more commonplace in mobile games, Valve now has policies in place that make sure this practice doesn’t extend to PC titles, at least through those available via Steam. With rumors of big players like EA pondering in-game advertising, this Steam policy acts as a deterrent, safeguarding the interests of players.
Related
New Steam Client Update Released
Days after releasing a major Steam client update, Valve follows up with another late January update for users to download.
In its advertising-related document for developers (spotted by GamingOnLinux), Steam now shows a new rule that disqualifies “paid advertising” as a revenue model for games listed on the platform. According to the post, games cannot force users to engage with ads in order to play or lock gameplay behind an ad. In addition to this, they can not incentivize players to watch ads by offering them rewards. Furthermore, the policy page dictates that a developer can not charge another for Steam features, including bundles, sale pages, store pages, franchise pages, and the like. Per SteamDB on Bluesky, this stance on in-game ads has existed on Steam for quite a while but is now more visible thanks to the newly added documentation change.
Valve Continues Improving Steam with User-Friendly Updates
Valve has created a dedicated page describing that in-game ads or ad-based revenue models are not allowed in Steam games. This has been reported as a new policy, but this has been the case for at least 5 years as seen on the pricing page, there just wasn’t a separate page.
— SteamDB (@steamdb.info) 2025-02-10T10:43:31.704Z
Throughout the years, Valve has gained quite a good reputation among gamers, especially the PC gaming community, due to its many player-first decisions. The latest change to underline Steam’s policy on ads in games is one of several consumer-friendly moves that the Half-Life developer has implemented recently. Another minor but important enhancement Valve has introduced into its digital storefront was Steam’s warning about certain early access titles. In late 2024, the American developer also optimized the player experience on the Steam Community Market.
On the hardware front, Valve’s user-friendly approach is noticeable, with the Steam Deck supporting right-to-repair through various officially supported repair kits and parts available online. Additionally, the Gabe Newell-led company is also set to ship its SteamOS with Lenovo Legion Go S, a third-party PC handheld, giving fans of its custom Linux distro more options.
Steam
Steam is a digital video game storefront and program developed by Valve that allows gamers to purchase, play, and mod their titles all through one convenient program.
- Brand
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Valve
- Original Release Date
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September 12, 2003
- Original MSRP (USD)
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N/A
- Weight
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N/A