Steam Updates ToS To Prohibit Promoting Non-Steam Versions


Including content patches.

One complaint that has become prevalent on Steam over the past couple of years involves developers who take Epic Games Store exclusive deals and then continue advertising their game on Steam for the duration of that exclusivity period. An example of this would be Subnautica who used Steam forums for customer service because Epic does not have forums. One might assume that Valve, whose store is being used to directly promote their competition, would take umbrage with such a strategy. And they have, just well over a year too late.

Valve has updated the policy regarding how developers can promote their games. Specifically it is now prohibited to promote the non-Steam version of a game and even non Steam distribution outlets on the game’s Steam community hub. Presumably this is to target developers who sign exclusivity deals with Epic while maintaining their Steam page, or perhaps people who promote cheap bundles, or possibly for developers who get rejected to promote their itch.io pages, but it also appears to target developers advertising adult patches for their games.

“In the game you ship via Steam, and in communications on Steam, you may only promote the Steam version and its availability via Steam, and not other distribution outlets. This applies both to full versions of your game and to content patches that change the existing version.”

It’s hard to know how committed Valve will be to this policy as like most things at the company these statements are inconsistently enforced, incredibly vague, and at the will and convenience of whoever at Valve is looking at it. For instance Valve has had a policy requiring release parity for games for years, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that actually enforced or used as a reason for rejection.

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Source: Steam