Valve takes stern stance on season passes and DLC in new guidelines

digitaltrends.com:

Valve is taking a stance against season passes on Steam, implementing new guidelines for developers that’ll force them to be clearer about what’s in season passes and offer refunds if those plans change.

“If you aren’t ready to clearly communicate about the content included in each DLC AND when each DLC will be ready for launch, you shouldn’t offer a Season Pass on Steam,” Valve wrote in the documentation.

SteamDB creator Pavel Djundik first spotted the new documentation, and posted about it on Bluesky Thursday.

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In case you’re unaware, season passes are offered to players as a way to for them to get future DLC and other bonus features for some of their favorite games, usually by having them buy deluxe editions of new releases that cost more than just the base game. Valve says that a developer implementing a season pass is “promising future content” to the player, with a “commitment” to follow through on those promises.

However, buying a season pass can come with risks. If it changes after purchase or gets canceled, the player is often left in a strange position. They can get a refund, but how easy that is depends on the platform and if the developer or publisher is involved.

The new guidelines lay out how developers need to advertise their season passes, and it’s all about increased transparency. First, they need to announce everything that will be included with details. So instead of just writing that there will be future DLC, games need to mention what DLC and any other relevant information. There doesn’t need to be a huge amount of detail, but it needs to include basics and what the player will get from them. Developers also need to note expected release dates or windows. Finally, there needs to be at least one released DLC when it goes up for purchase.

And if that DLC in the season pass is canceled,