Valve Will Now Allow 'Everything' on Steam Store, Even Games with 'Controversial' Content

Valve recently addressed ongoing discussions on restricting gaming content on the Steam Store. The company said it should not decide what titles deserve to be on the platform.

In a blog post on Thursday, Valve engineer Erik Johnson set the record straight on what video games deserve the services offered by Steam both from the perspective of gamers and developers.

Steam has become the go-to destination for purchasing digital PC content. But over the years, there has been a non-stop debate on whether or not Valve should hold all the power in restricting the kinds of games that can be listed on the platform.

Considering previous events and gamers’ feedback, Johnson said the company reviewed the principles of the online gaming store and concluded that Valve should not be the one deciding what people can and cannot purchase from Steam. Johnson added that Valve was recently reminded that it should not decide what developers may or may not create for the gaming community.

“Those choices should be yours to make,” Johnson tells gamers and developers. “Our role should be to provide systems and tools to support your efforts to make these choices for yourself, and to help you do it in a way that makes you feel comfortable.”

With that, Valve came up with the solution of allowing “everything onto the Steam Store.” But there are still exemptions, such as titles that are “illegal or straight up trolling.”

This approach, according to Johnson, gives them more time to improve the services that let gamers and developers exercise their right to decide what content is acceptable and less time in “trying to police what should be on Steam.”

The blog post implies that Valve is working on adding more control options for people to customize what content they want to see on their list of recommended titles and hide the ones that do not interest them.

Some may find it absurd, but Valve was straightforward in saying that developers with “controversial” video games do not have “to deal with harassment” and promised to roll out services that will “support them.”

However, Valve also reminded developers that it wants them to be more transparent if their games have “potentially problematic content” right in the submission process. And to those who will not be completely honest, Valve is still ready to “cease doing business” with them.

Interestingly, the decision came shortly after Valve took down a widely protested video game based on school shootings.

Meanwhile, Valve reminded its customers that the existence of certain types of content on the Steam Store does not reflect the company’s and employees’ values. Johnson added that their new policy is grounded on the “belief that you all have the right to create & consume the content you choose.”