With a forthcoming Steam update, developers won’t be able to add award logos and notable review scores to the basic aesthetic elements of their games.
Valve claims that creators have steadily given their games’ numerous honors more weight in Steam banner pictures (officially referred to as capsule images). This has led to visually cluttered assets that make it difficult for potential buyers to choose their next favorite game. These crammed capsule graphics frequently include several review scores, amazing review comments, and award information rather than letting the eye take in a game’s name and basic design.
Steam won’t let review scores and award logos to be placed on game images
Despite the fact that some veteran Steam users may have developed the ability to ignore them over time, others frequently find the award logo and review scores to be crowded. This is especially true of listings where award logos and review details obscure the game’s plot, theme, or goal.
In a blog post about the change, Valve said that some developers were even boosting the graphics of their games with inaccurate or severely out-of-date scores. It makes reasonable that the business would want to reexamine its capsule image guidelines because that is what a potential consumer first sees.
“It’s our goal to make it as clear and straightforward as possible for customers to find games to buy and play on Steam. Recently, we’ve noticed more text, award logos, and even review scores being included by game developers in their graphical asset images. This made us realize our guidelines haven’t been as clear as they should be. As a result of not having clearly-defined rules, we’ve seen additions to graphical assets that are creating a confusing and sometimes even inaccurate experience for customers.”
Valve’s new rules will roll out Sept. 1, 2022, and will cover a number of capsule image limits. Before explaining the new rules we recommend you to check out our guide explaining how to connect a keyboard and mouse to the Steam Deck.
“Content on base graphical asset capsules on Steam is limited to game artwork, the game name, and any official subtitle,” Valve says. Developers won’t be allowed to include discount marketing material, award information, or review ratings to the thumbnails for their games. They won’t be able to promote completely distinct goods in a game’s screenshots either. Even more likely to stop developers from finding a sneaky way to include the aforementioned information is Valve’s “No other miscellaneous text” guideline.
For specific, limited-time circumstances, Valve is willing to offer an exemption to the above stipulation. To swiftly alert users of a recent game update or a seasonal event, developers will need to submit a temporary “Capsule Artwork Override,” albeit restrictions will still apply. The language (or group of languages) used in the image must be localized to match the language(s) used in the game, which is the most important step.
“As a reminder, these new rules go into effect September 1, 2022 and we ask that all game developers review their graphical assets and make any changes to bring them in line with these new rules,” said Valve.
After September 1, games that are deemed to be in violation of the new regulations “may have limits to visibility within the Steam store,” according to Valve. The games of uncooperative developers can also be taken off of official Steam sales and events.
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