Valve won’t allow awards and reviews on Steam store images starting in September

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

The way in which games are marketed on Steam will be changed. Effective September 1st, graphical assets developers use in their store listings will only be able to include game artwork, the game's name, and any official subtitle. Images won't be able to include review scores, award names or logos, text that markets discounts, or text that promotes a different product.

The new rules could prove to be a drastic shift for some developers as they may rely on reviews or awards on their images in an effort to stand out from the humongous number of games available on steam Some developers of well-known games will have to make changes after seeing promotional images of their games that featured awards.

Here is Valve's explanation for the changes.

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.

For example, some game logos themselves have become so small that it’s hard for players to tell what the name of the game is. In other cases, graphical asset images are so cluttered with award logos and ratings that it is distracting and hard to read. Some capsules include review scores that are no longer accurate. We also see that in most cases this additional text on assets is presented in English language only, isolating much of the Steam audience that doesn’t speak English.

According to Valve, review quotes, scores, and awards can be found on the steam store pages. You might not see those if you are just looking for a new game.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

The company encourages using text in artwork to promote a new update or content for your game, even though it isn't completely banning text on assets. Your game supports more than one language, so any text you include will have to be translated. The full documentation of Valve can be found here.

This isn't the first time that Valve has given a mandate. After some controversy about what games should and shouldn't be allowed on Steam, Valve said that it would allow "everything" on the store. Since then, Valve has banned NFTs. While you are looking for your next game, the company has improved its recommendations to help you see smaller titles you might like.