Valve to stop devs from including accolades and marketing copy on Steam graphics
Valve is implementing new Steam graphical asset rules that will prevent developers from adding review scores, award names, and marketing copy to banner images.
The company said the new rules for graphical asset capsules -- which is the official name for Steam banner images -- have been devised to "make it as clear and straightforward as possible for customers to find games to buy and play on Steam."
According to Valve, the changes are a response to developers including more text, award logos, and review scores in their graphical assets, creating what it claims are "confusing and sometimes even inaccurate" images.
"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," said Valve. "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.
"We understand that developers want to communicate with their players about the quality of their games, and Steam already has spaces on game store pages to present most of this information. Press review quotes, press review scores, and special awards each have dedicated spaces on Steam store pages where it can be presented consistently and where customers can expect to find that information."
To remedy the situation and make its guidelines as clear as possible, Valve wants to clarify its existing rules and add some new ones that will go into effect on September 1, 2022.
From that point, content on base graphical asset capsules on Steam
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