Valve is taking a firm stance against intrusive advertising on Steam. It has updated its terms of service to prohibit games that force players to watch ads to continue playing or progress. This move aims to preserve the Steam experience and prevent it from becoming a haven for mobile-style, ad-filled games.

As reported by GamingOnLinux, Valve's updated guidelines explicitly state that “developers should not utilize paid advertising as a business model in their game, such as requiring players to watch or otherwise engage with advertising in order to play, or gating gameplay behind advertising”. This means games monetised through mandatory advertisements, a standard in mobile gaming, will not be allowed on Steam. Valve has even specified that such elements must be “removed” before a game can be launched on the platform.

The guidelines further clarify that developers should not use advertising to provide value to players, such as rewarding players for watching or engaging with advertising in their game. This prevents developers from incentivising microtransactions through advertising, a common tactic in free-to-play mobile titles.

This news will likely be welcomed by many Steam users who are wary of the aggressive advertising practices prevalent in mobile gaming. Forced advertisements that interrupt gameplay to earn in-game currency or lives are pretty frustrating, and Valve's new policy aims to keep such tactics off Steam. While microtransactions remain permissible, developers must find alternative ways to monetise their games rather than relying on incentivised ads. Any game found to violate these rules will have to either remove the offending advertisements or find another distribution platform.

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