Valve Announces Steam Greenlight: Steam Workshop for Indie Games to be sold on Steam

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So they have to reach a certain number of votes?

Yes, the FAQ says so, they are not sure yet how many votes. And don't go into specifics (like if it has to be achieved in a limited number of time) but your project never gets removed from the service unless you want.
 
I hope this doesn't get abused, at least for crappy games - "vote for my game and get a free copy of it if it makes it onto Steam"
 
I don't trust the collective taste of Steam users, but I wasn't crazy about the small games that made it through the original submission process in the first place, so maybe this can be a step up.

Considering not every steam user will care about that, I think we might have a serious chance of pushing games as the GAF collective. Same goes for 4ch or Reddit I guess.

I hope this doesn't get abused, at least for crappy games - "vote for my game and get a free copy of it if it makes it onto Steam"

Well, Valve employers still decide in the end. So its ultra crappy they can still reject it, no?
 
So is this for all games or will regular published titles bypass this?

I'm sure that established developers and publishers will directly go to Steam. This seem to be for smaller studios/new studios.

Though, it would be hilarious to see COD on Greenlight next year.
 
I hope this doesn't get abused, at least for crappy games - "vote for my game and get a free copy of it if it makes it onto Steam"

They could have a policy against this sort of thing. If a developer is doing something like this it would be pretty easy to find and reject the game based on.
 
I pretty much expected Valve to do this with Steam Workshop, but I thought they would do a kickstarter type thing. Where people donate for the development of future titles.
 
I pretty much expected Valve to do this with Steam Workshop, but I thought they would do a kickstarter type thing. Where people donate for the development of future titles.

There are probably all sorts of liability issues becaue it involves money that Valve would rather not deal with quite just yet.
 
Ahhh so THIS is what someone was teasing on twitter a while back, think it was in the Mutant Mudds thread, someone said the process will change in a few weeks.
Sounds like an absolutely fantastic idea.
 
Great idea, now the community can choose what gets sold on their instead of their schizophrenic selection team.

This is not the case at all. The up votes seem to just make Steam more likely to look at the game, not approve it for sale.

Without knowing what their previous (actually, current) model is for looking at submissions and determining whether or not they fit Steam, I'm not sure what this changes.

edit: or maybe not? The article I read 10 mins ago said the upvoting helped games get selected for review and not sale, but the blurb in the OP says differently.
 
Without knowing what their previous (actually, current) model is for looking at submissions and determining whether or not they fit Steam, I'm not sure what this changes.

It gives them at least a better idea of potential sales revenue from the game.
 
This is not the case at all. The up votes seem to just make Steam more likely to look at the game, not approve it for sale.

Without knowing what their previous (actually, current) model is for looking at submissions and determining whether or not they fit Steam, I'm not sure what this changes.

It's obvious what this changes, more 'thumbs up' generally means a general interest in the game. So they put it up for sale.. not sure how this is anything but a good thing. Of course they'll still look at the metrics, but this is just to show them interest in a game so it goes in the approval pile.
 
Another thing I wonder is if Valve will push for adding Steamworks features to their games as incentives of some sort.
 
Man, this is really cool. Hopefully it helps more indie devs get some exposure.

I've always wanted to make a small indie game in my free time between my regular graphic design job, but while I can write and do design/art, I'm no programmer. Maybe I can find someone who'd want to partner with me on that.
 
Another thing I wonder is if Valve will push for adding Steamworks features to their games as incentives of some sort.

I don't think Valve will have to add incentives. I'm guessing you'll probably get more votes from the Steam community if you add more Steam community features (cloud, cheeves, etc).
 
hopefully this alleviates the woes some indie devs have voiced about getting their game onto steam.

keep the improvements coming valve!
GIVE ME BIG PICTURE MODE ALREADY!!!!
 
It's obvious what this changes, more 'thumbs up' generally means a general interest in the game. So they put it up for sale.. not sure how this is anything but a good thing. Of course they'll still look at the metrics, but this is just to show them interest in a game so it goes in the approval pile.

I didn't say it was a bad thing, I just said that lots of thumbs ups does not seem to mean that game will then be for sale on Steam, like a lot of people are saying. Just to clarify.
 
I didn't say it was a bad thing, I just said that lots of thumbs ups does not seem to mean that game will then be for sale on Steam, like a lot of people are saying. Just to clarify.

Unless the game violates some kind of moral code at Valve, a game that is upvoted will get released. Otherwise this program wouldn't work.
 
Oh yes, this is so relevant to my interests. I also like the "you can submit builds", which would make Greenlight a great testbed for indie developers, allowing them to check out what's a "yay or nay" in the gaming community.

I wish they posted which year. :(

Laughed at this one.
 
I didn't say it was a bad thing, I just said that lots of thumbs ups does not seem to mean that game will then be for sale on Steam, like a lot of people are saying. Just to clarify.

From the site:

How many votes does a game need to get selected?
It's going to change during the first few days/weeks since we don't know what kind of traffic to expect. Part of the drive for this system is the need for customers to help us prioritize which games they want to see made available on Steam. So the specific number of votes doesn't matter as much as relative interest in a game compared with other games in Steam Greenlight.

We're going to be reaching out to developers as we see their games getting traction regardless of whether they have achieved a specific number of votes or are sitting 1st or 2nd place at any given time. We are most interested in finding the games that people want, not requiring them to always hit a specific number of votes.

What if I don't want to announce my game early but I still want to be on Steam?
Once a game is accepted through Steam Greenlight, it doesn't take long to get it launched on Steam, so feel free to hold off on posting to Greenlight until you're ready to announce.
 
Another thing I wonder is if Valve will push for adding Steamworks features to their games as incentives of some sort.

I'm pretty damned sure that quite a number of indie devs will GLADLY integrate Steamworks features into their products because of this new initiative.
 
That's fairly bloody awesome on their part. Much needed transparency on their selection process and we also get to play what we want. God tier good.
 
Within 5 years we'll be able to make happy wishes upon shooting stars, and Steam will automatically pick up on them and make them come true.

Steam already does that, but instead of being automatic it runs on little hamsters chasing after copies of HL3.
 
From the site:

Thanks.

So the specific number of votes doesn't matter as much as relative interest in a game compared with other games in Steam Greenlight.

Not sure what this means or how it's measured, but it does confirm the idea that up votes don't necessarily equate to "soon for sale." Which is good. I'd rather the system be less transparent than letting "the internet" collectively decide via voting what indie games will be for sale on Steam. "The internet" has shitty taste. ;)
 
I didn't say it was a bad thing, I just said that lots of thumbs ups does not seem to mean that game will then be for sale on Steam, like a lot of people are saying. Just to clarify.

I don't see why not? Not like Valve loses anything doing so, they take a cut and indie devs get more exposure and we get more creative and exciting games. A win-win for all parties. But maybe it's a bit more complicated then that on the business side of things but I can definitely see this being generally more profitable for them.
 
Farsight should resubmit The Pinball Arcade if Valve makes it this easy.

Let's further hope that 'relative interest' is measured per genre or else a lot of quirky titles will be overlooked.
 
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