After controversies regarding adult games and inconsiderate content, Valve has decided to take a definitive stance on games on its platform. Now, so long as a game 'isn't straight up trolling or illegal', it'll be allowed on Steam. In a post on Steam called "Who gets to be on the Steam Store", company staff described the troubles of trying to regulate games, as well as deal with laws in multiple different countries. Citing these issues, and the climate after the removal of the school shooting game Active Shooter, and the panic over adult content being targeted for removal, Valve wants to clarify that it's time to disclose their new policy.

"Everything" will now be allowed on the Steam Store, so long as it doesn't break any laws or isn't considered trolling ("trolling" was not defined) meaning developers will be allowed to distribute their games with no fear of removal. According to Valve, this will let them focus on other important features or components to the company, rather than "policing" content.

To combat potential issues this may raise, you'll now be able to block certain types of games, such as overly gorey, hentai games, and other undesirable subject matter. Valve states that even though controversial games that deal with racism, sexual themes, violence, varying quality levels, etc will make it through approval to be on the Store now, it does not mean Valve supports these types of games internally. If a game does turn out to be an issue, they will handle things on a "case by case basis".

Source

 

[TotalInsanity4]

the Nazi uprising has been totally over exaggerated, 99% of Nazi-esque statements online are just trolls trying to get a rise out of those of a nervous disposition

You know... At what point does that not effectively become the same thing, though

 

[gamesquest1]

You know... At what point does that not effectively become the same thing, though

you know the saying "don't feed the trolls" it does apply, the more people get all upset and worked up about it, the more it happens

 

[FAST6191]

Good. Should have been there from the start.

That said I have to wonder if this is one of those "no curation therefore we can't get stung" type ploys.

 

[Xzi]

By this, I mean it's a well-documented fact that good indie games are faring worse on Steam nowadays than before, and the reason is a lack of discoverability among the large influx of mediocre shovelware. Indie developers used to clamor to get on Steam as that was usually a very large revenue source for them. Nowadays, we're hearing reports that many indie studios make the majority of their money outside of Steam, earning large sums from GOG or the eShop. That did not use to be the case. Game developers are visibly upset by Valve's lax content policies, as it's hard for your potentially great game to shine among the 50 other shovelware titles released that day.

Firstly, "shovelware" is a relative title. Secondly, people set preferences and see what they want to see on their Steam homepages. It's not just discoverability that's dropping sales, it's also likely to be saturation. You can only buy so many indies of the same genre before wanting to move on, and there are more options to choose from than ever before. Lastly, you're kidding yourself if you think GoG and the eShop don't have some shitty games you can buy. It's not the storefront's job to save a person from their own bad decisions. There are plenty of shitty, cheap products you can purchase from retail stores as well.

the Nazi uprising has been totally over exaggerated, 99% of Nazi-esque statements online are just trolls trying to get a rise out of those of a nervous disposition

Obviously it wasn't just an online thing since there were several neo-nazi rallies IRL after Trump's inauguration. They kept getting smaller and smaller as larger groups of protestors would show up to shout them down, but that doesn't change the fact that there are truly people willing to defend neo-nazism/white nationalism in this country.

 

[DarthDub]

Hopefully there'll be some hentai VR games for me to enjoy.

 

[kuwanger]

how Atari's lack of curation led to an oversaturated market, and how that was their eventual downfall.

That's a pretty horrible misrepresentation of what caused the 1983 Video Game Crash. What killed the video game market was that Atari was making horribly shitty games. When even the maker of the console is making shitty games, you lose hope than anything is good. Add to that that no actually good games were being released. The 1983 Video Game Crash is more in line with the current Anime crisis--too much rushed, generic, boring, titillating crap.

Compare this to the Google Play market. Sturgeon's Law applies to 99.9%. Yet the handheld market isn't dying or moving onto more "curated" spaces like Apple/Amazon--not sure how well curated Amazon's store is, admittedly. More importantly, Steam already has a curation service in the form of Steam Curators. So, Steam is in a much better position than Google Play.

If anything, I imagine the next Video Game Crash will be an inversion. That is, so many high quality games will be made along with medium quality games that virtually no one will be able to recoup their costs. We're already seeing this problem with AAA HD games and the various pushes to monetize because people are [supposedly] unwilling to spend $80-$100 per game. The next crash will probably hurt the developers, but publishers can just ride the massive back catalog of quality games.

 

[Hells Malice]

Glad they decided to go completely limp instead of get some balls and actually clean up their platform.
Whiners win again.

 

[DarthDub]

Glad they decided to go completely limp instead of get some balls and actually clean up their platform.
Whiners win again.

I'm not limp at all.
GIVE ME HENTAI DAMMIT

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Firstly, "shovelware" is a relative title. Secondly, people set preferences and see what they want to see on their Steam homepages. It's not just discoverability that's dropping sales, it's also likely to be saturation. You can only buy so many indies of the same genre before wanting to move on, and there are more options to choose from than ever before. Lastly, you're kidding yourself if you think GoG and the eShop don't have some shitty games you can buy. It's not the storefront's job to save a person from their own bad decisions. There are plenty of shitty, cheap products you can purchase from retail stores as well.

I will repeat - Steam has no quality control. Go to the new releases section right now. The amount of cheap asset flips, broken, buggy releases is staggeringly high, much more than any other major game marketplace. The overall quality of the marketplace suffers when a lack of oversight causes exceeding amounts of shoddy products to flood the system. Indie titles get lost in the surge, and its been a problem that many indie developers have spoken out about, and once again, are visibly upset over. Robots can only do so much to sift through the rubble for the products with actual quality. The marketplace owner has to set a quality standard to ensure confidence from not only customers but content creators as well. You can't have a supermarket stock every kind of item possible and then blame customers for not discerning which products are of good quality. Customers lose confidence if the store isn't ensuring a quality standard. Then manufacturers lose confidence when their high-quality products are placed alongside shoddy, cheap products that don't work. It's the same exact scenario with Steam.

Valve is not the government. They have no obligation to allow every game possible, they're a marketplace owner that needs to ensure their marketplace's integrity. They must make tough and potentially subjective decisions in order to maintain customer and developer trust. They're delusional to think they're doing anyone any favors by accepting every .exe file ever.

I invite you to read this opinion piece:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eu...-content-policy-is-both-arrogant-and-cowardly

 

[Deleted User]

That's a pretty horrible misrepresentation of what caused the 1983 Video Game Crash. What killed the video game market was that Atari was making horribly shitty games. When even the maker of the console is making shitty games, you lose hope than anything is good. Add to that that no actually good games were being released. The 1983 Video Game Crash is more in line with the current Anime crisis--too much rushed, generic, boring, titillating crap.

Ah, that was a huge oversight. It was a less a matter of quality control from other developers and more a matter of quality control within their own department, right?

Plus, now that I think about it, people buy consoles with an implicit promise that there will be a fair amount of high-quality games released for it. This is less the case with Steam, as they're much less of a manufacturer and more of a software provider, so less skin off their backs, I suppose.

If anything, I imagine the next Video Game Crash will be an inversion. That is, so many high quality games will be made along with medium quality games that virtually no one will be able to recoup their costs. We're already seeing this problem with AAA HD games and the various pushes to monetize because people are [supposedly] unwilling to spend $80-$100 per game. The next crash will probably hurt the developers, but publishers can just ride the massive back catalog of quality games.

That's an odd way of thinking about it; I guess it would explain the recent trend in micotransactions as a means of monetizing a game. I remember Jim Sterling talking about a need for more mid-budget in the market. By just lowering the budget on a few of these games, it might make it easier for developers to recoup production costs and avoid such a crash. Nowadays, though, it seems that everything's either a small indie game made by a few people at most on no budget, or a multi-million dollar endeavor with a large number of developers pushed out by a big-name publisher.

 

[SexiestManAlive]

so um, does this mean nsfw mods on steam XD

 

[Xzi]

They have no obligation to allow every game possible

They're not obligated to, no, but that's exactly what their customers have been begging for for years now. Even more so recently when people believed them to be too prudish with the hentai games issue. This really is a case of "careful what you wish for," because this is Valve's response to that overreaction from customers.

I invite you to read this opinion piece:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eu...-content-policy-is-both-arrogant-and-cowardly

I've read similar pieces and I disagree with the premise. I don't know anybody that just buys random games and expects to enjoy them all. Self-curation has been a necessity on Steam and every other digital storefront from the beginning, and with all the features they've added since then it's never been easier. People like the idea of Valve vetting everything only until a game they'd potentially enjoy gets rejected. I'll say again: there's no pleasing everyone here. Any decision they made would've angered some group of people.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

They're not obligated to, no, but that's exactly what their customers have been begging for for years now. Even more so recently when people believed them to be too prudish with the hentai games issue. This really is a case of "careful what you wish for," because this is Valve's response to that overreaction from customers.


I've read similar pieces and I disagree with the premise. I don't know anybody that just buys random games and expects to enjoy them all. Self-curation has been a necessity on Steam and every other digital storefront from the beginning, and with all the features they've added since then it's never been easier. People like the idea of Valve vetting everything only until a game they'd potentially enjoy gets rejected.

Please look to the rest of my response on how I believe such behavior leads to a lack of marketplace integrity and loss of faith from content creators and customers. Games that don't make the cut on Steam can be sold elsewhere, there's nothing stopping that. And just like that, people can go buy those games where they're being sold. Player choice is not being impeded, nor is freedom of expression, and the net outcome is a stronger storefront for Valve and their customers. Additionally, it's important for me to point out that I'm arguing for a quality bar, not a content bar. I'm not saying Valve should do away with pornographic/offensive games (they shouldn't), I'm saying Valve needs a quality threshold and should do away with shoddily developed products. I believe Steam should allow all kinds of content, provided the software works and the product isn't shoddy. I think we can agree we all want working, non-sloppy games, right? A storefront, whether physical or digital, needs quality standards. That leads to a better Steam for everyone.

 

[Xzi]

Please look to the rest of my response on how I believe such behavior leads to a lack of marketplace integrity and loss of faith from content creators and customers.

Between screenshots, videos, descriptions, reviews, curators, refunds, etc, blind faith is no longer a factor in purchasing decisions. Nor should it be. These same things force integrity from developers, because nobody is going to buy a game with 10% positive reviews and people constantly discussing refunding it.

Games that don't make the cut on Steam can be sold elsewhere, there's nothing stopping that. And just like that, people can go buy those games where they're being sold.

It's not exactly beneficial to Valve to send customers elsewhere for a product they should be able to get on Steam.

I believe Steam should allow all kinds of content, provided the software works and the product isn't shoddy. I think we can agree we all want working, non-sloppy games, right?

I can agree with that, I just don't agree that Valve or any other storefront owner doing 100% of the curation leads to less shoddiness. Take No Man's Sky, for example. Shoddy af on release, but it was available everywhere. GoG, Steam, consoles, everywhere. What this goes to show you is how easy it is to sidestep anybody's quality standards. Or another example, Sea of Thieves. As long as it's first-party shoddy, it's suddenly okay. Just too many loopholes and the end result is hardly any better than letting people curate for themselves.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Between screenshots, videos, descriptions, reviews, curators, refunds, etc, blind faith is no longer a factor in purchasing decisions. Nor should it be. These same things force integrity from developers, because nobody is going to buy a game with 10% positive reviews and people constantly discussing refunding it.


It's not exactly beneficial to Valve to send customers elsewhere for a product they should be able to get on Steam.


I can agree with that, I just don't agree that Valve or any other storefront owner doing 100% of the curation leads to less shoddiness. Take No Man's Sky, for example. Shoddy af on release, but it was available everywhere. GoG, Steam, consoles, everywhere. What this goes to show you is how easy it is to sidestep anybody's quality standards. Or another example, Sea of Thieves. As long as it's first-party shoddy, it's suddenly okay. Just too many loopholes and the end result is hardly any better than letting people curate for themselves.

Except some devs spam low-quality asset flips anyways. Some games are literally only there to farm achievements or trading cards with, or be bundle fodder. These games serve to clutter the marketplace and drown out the quality products actually looking to provide good gaming content to customers. The low-quality games I am saying need to be vetted and removed are games no one is buying in the first place, and so it's inconsequential to allow those games to be sold elsewhere. The point is to declutter Steam and allow better discoverability for quality games. I also contend that with a quality standard, more customers will be more inclined to shop on Steam, just like a physical store with quality standards is likely to have more trust and patronage than one that allows just anything to go up on its shelves. Valve only has things to gain by implementing quality standards and decluttering Steam.

 

[tech3475]

I think Valve are just setting themselves up for more problems down the line.

Whether it be the drowning in a sea of **** asset flips and/or some game(s) which goes so far that it could affect Valves reputation and/or it leads to legal issues.

 

[Jayro]

Now if they could start making half-life games again, that'd be greeeeeeat.

 

[Deleted User]

I doubt they'll be allowing gormless titty games, I've had accounts community banned for 4 months over an ironic hentai profile picture

 

[LightyKD]

More Ecchi games FTW!!!!

 

[KingVamp]

Should Pure/Electric Love "What do you want?" be on the eShop? Not a game I care about, but that doesn't mean I want to take it down.

Take No Man's Sky,

Even when it didn't release with all the promises or vague things that they said, they still look like they put a fair amount effort into it. More like disappointing than the low quality they speak of.