Steam released a new policy that tightens the rules on games that have season pass content and forces developers to be more transparent about planned DLC.
A lot of players have felt frustrated with the current situation of the gaming industry in regards to the variety of issues that new DLCs or expansions that developers have released. This also led to frustration for Valve's gaming platform where a lot of titles are launched.
Steam's New Season Pass Policies
It has now decided to roll out new rules and regulations regarding Season Pass DLC that will hold developers more accountable. They will require the studios to deliver more effectively on their promises of new content for players.
They will also have to list exactly what will be included in the Season Passes on Steam moving forward. They are also required to show relative time frames that said content will become available if they will be coming all at once, according to Event Hubs.
The announcement post noted that developers are promising future content by offering a Season Pass. Steam said that the studios must commit to a launch timing for each content release within those Season Passes for both the gaming platform and players.
The gaming platform added that if developers are not ready to clearly communicate regarding the content of each DLC and when they will be ready for launch, they should not offer a Season Pass on Steam.
Making Developers More Accountable
This comes in the wake of fighting game fans complaining about a series of offers for post-launch content that they do not know what is included.
Bandai Namco used an approach where it asked Tekken 8 players to pre-purchase the first four DLC characters without revealing who they were.
The new policy also allows developers to delay the release of a season pass for their game, but this can only be done once and the delay should be no longer than three months.
If these thresholds are broken, Valve reserves the authority for corrective actions, such as removing the season pass from sale or refunding players, Rock Paper Shotgun said.
Valve added that the sale of a Season Pass includes risks because developers are promising the release of content that has not yet been released. It argued that sales and reviews reflect whether or not players enjoy or not the content that is included.
The new rules are well-received so far but Valve is struggling in the United States. This was after a Senator called the company out for lack of action against "hateful accounts and rhetoric proliferating on Steam," according to IGN.
