Yesterday Valve released an update to developers selling on their storefront. As of September 1 this year, the banner images will be referred to as”capsule” Steamworks is limited to include different prices, current offers and more. In announcing the policy change, Gordon Freeman of the House said the previous rules were not defined enough.
Logo images are equivalent to Steam cover images It’s what you see in store listings and is usually designed to grab your attention as quickly as possible: this often means fantasy art, a prominent protagonist, and titles in large, stylized letters. But it’s also a place for developers to point out recent sales, list rave reviews, show awards the game has won, or let you know new DLC or a seasonal update. However, starting September 1st, developers will be allowed to report major updates, but they will refrain from displaying numbers or other text not directly related to the game.
valve Share news of upcoming changes in an announcement on steamcommunity.com. The post, titled “New Rules for Graphic Asset Capsules,” outlines the company’s desire to “make it as easy as possible for customers to buy and find games to play on Steam.” For them, listing a high rating score, price name, icon or logo does not imply any kind of discounted marketing copy.
The content of Steam’s primary graphics asset capsule is limited to game graphics, game names, and all official translations. To clarify, this means:
- There are no rating results of any kind, including steam ratings or external news sources
- There is no name, symbol or logo for the award
- No discount marketing text (ie it doesn’t say “on sale now” or “up to 90% off”)
- No text or images promoting other products. This does not apply to sequels or other titles marketed in the same franchise.
- No more text.
Images may be updated to notify customers of updates such as B. A major DLC release or a seasonal update popular with live service games. But there are some limitations here too. These updates can only run for a month using what Valve calls “artwork overrides”. Also, text – which should only be used to describe new content and nothing else – must be translated into a language the game supports.
For those who want to brag about high rating scores, Valve advises that developers should follow the rules mentioned “Shop Page Rewards on Steamworks. You can find these trophies on the game’s store page, often on the right side of the page.
This rule change will likely help clear up some of the script clutter that sometimes fills Steam, though it remains to be seen how developers will react to the new guidelines and how strictly Valve will enforce them when they go live in September.
