How an indie dev convinced Valve to allow his Half-Life game on Steam

gamesradar.com:

Two years ago, indie game developer Daniel Almenara (opens in new tab) (or PinkyDev on ModDB) started working on a side project that would become Codename: Loop, a twin-stick shooter based on the original Half-Life, with the hopes of eventually bringing it to Steam. This week, he was overjoyed to share some good news (opens in new tab): Half-Life creator and Steam operator Valve has given him the greenlight. 

"A year and a half ago I wrote to Valve telling them about my project," Almenara tells GamesRadar. "At that time the project was not very advanced, but the answer I received was that due to the nature of the project – it is a game made in Unity and not a mod – it was complicated to be accepted on Steam. However, the employee who responded to that email told me to focus on the mechanics and try to do something fun. So it was a no but also a yes? Or at least that's how I interpreted it." 

"I kept working on the project despite the response because, in a certain way, I felt that if I did something of quality they would take it into account, and I also have a lot of fun working on this project," he continues. "So a few months ago when I felt I had something good, I contacted them again, and after several verifications through Steam they allowed me to publish the game because it was good and fun!" 

With Valve's blessing, Almenara – along with the few other people who've been helping him along the way, especially with map design – hopes to have a Steam page for Codename: Loop live by the end of the year, hopefully with a playable demo attached. Codename: Loop will be totally free, unlike loosely comparable works such as Hunt Down the Freeman (opens in new tab), a 2018 Half-Life fan game which caused quite a storm when it