The way independently-created games are making their way to Valve’s Steam service is about to undergo a big change. According to a…
The way independently-created games are making their way to Valve’s Steam service is about to undergo a big change. According to a post on its official blog , Valve will be replacing Steam Greenlight with a new and very different service called Steam Direct, starting this spring.
Steam Greenlight debuted in the summer of 2012 and provided a pathway for independent developers to make their way onto the enormous Steam marketplace. The service allowed developers to submit their games for approval by the community. Users vote on the titles they like and in turn help Valve decide which games actually become available on Steam.
Steam Direct kicks the doors wide open on that idea. To put a game on Steam through the Direct initiative, no voting or popularity contests are required. Valve says in its post that developers will fill out a set of digital paperwork « similar to the process of applying for a bank account. » Then they’ll pay a « recoupable application fee » that Valve says hasn’t been set but will be somewhere between $100 and $5,000, depending on the feedback the company gets from active and prospective developers.
