Yesterday, Valve released an update for developers selling on their storefront. From September 1 this year, “banner images”capsules” Various definitions, current sales and more on Steamworks. input will be restricted. In announcing the policy change, Gordon Freeman House says the previous rules were not well defined.
Banner images are equivalent to cover art on Steam. They’re the stuff you see on store listings, and they’re usually designed to grab your attention as quickly as possible: This often means slick art, a prominent main character, and a title with big, stylized letters. But it’s also a place where developers show current sales, list rave reviews, show off any awards the game might have won, or just let you know there’s new DLC or a seasonal update. Starting September 1, developers will be allowed to display major updates, but they will be prohibited from displaying numbers or other text not directly related to the game.
valve An announcement on Steamcommunity.com shared news of the upcoming changes. Titled “New rules for graphics asset capsules,” the post details the company’s desire to “make things as clear and simple as possible for customers to find games to buy and play on Steam.” For them, it doesn’t include a list of high review scores, award titles, symbols or logos, and no discounted marketing copy.
Content based on graphically active capsules on Steam is limited to game art, the title of the game, and any official subtitles. For clarity, this means:
- No review scores of any kind, including Steam reviews or external news sources
- No award names, symbols or logos
- No discount marketing copy (eg no “On Sale” or “Up to 90% Off” text)
- No text or image promoting a different product. This does not include marketing of sequels or other titles in the same franchise.
- No other miscellaneous text.
Images can be updated to notify customers of an update, such as a major DLC release or a seasonal update popular with live service games. However, there are some limitations to this as well. The updates in question can only be released for one month using what Valve calls “Artwork Overrides”. Additionally, text that should only be used to describe new content and nothing else should be localized in languages supported by the game.
For those who want to show off their high review scores, Valve says that developers should follow the guidelines outlined in “”.Store Page Accolades” documentation in Steamworks. These are the definitions you see on the game’s dedicated store page, often on the right side of the page.
This rule change will likely help clear up some of the textual confusion that has plagued Steam, though it remains to be seen how developers will react to the new guidelines and how strictly Valve will enforce its implementation this September.
