Steam to Ban Use of Misleading Screenshots on Game Pages

no man's sky 2014-12-26 11

Some big changes are coming to Steam soon, and the people that it looks to help out the most are the consumers.

In a post on Facepunch, a user with access to Steam developer posts detailed that in an upcoming Steam update, developers will be forced to use screenshots that are representative of the final game.


The post reads:

We haven’t been super crisp on guidelines for screenshots in the past, so we’d like to take this opportunity to clarify some rules in this space. When the ‘screenshot’ section of a store page is used for images other than screenshots that depict the game, it can make it harder for customers to understand what the product is that they are looking at. Additionally, we’re going to start showing game screenshots in more places as described above, and these images need to be able to represent the game.
We ask that any images you upload to the ‘screenshot’ section of your store page should be screenshots that show your game. This means avoiding using concept art, pre-rendered cinematic stills, or images that contain awards, marketing copy, or written product descriptions. Please show customers what your game is actually like to play.
For elements such as marketing copy, awards you’d like to show off, or descriptions of your Deluxe Edition, we ask that you use the specific spaces already available on your store page to put that content rather than including it in your screenshots.

The first game to make this change is Valve’s very own DOTA 2, which previously used mostly concept art. You can view the changes for yourself here.

While this is very good for consumers in general, it’s yet to be seen whether or not these new rules will be enforced or not, or if developers find ways to bypass this.

The new update is expected to roll out in a couple of weeks.

,

About

Writer at Niche Gamer. Passionate for video game journalism, and more than glad to be a part of it. I also write DOTA 2 stuff.


Where'd our comments go? Subscribe to become a member to get commenting access and true free speech!