Things were looking really ugly for awhile with the No Man’s Sky situation on Steam and other digital storefronts, as there were images on the game’s store page that did not accurately reflect the actual game. This got developer Hello Games in hot water, as they were being accused of false advertisement.
Following all of this, Valve has now decided to tighten up their requirements for Steam game page images in the ‘screenshot’ section. They posted the following update:
“We haven’t been super crisp on guidelines for screenshots in the past, so we’d like to take this opportunity to clarify some rules in this space. When the ‘screenshot’ section of a store page is used for images other than screenshots that depict the game, it can make it harder for customers to understand what the product is that they are looking at. Additionally, we’re going to start showing game screenshots in more places as described above, and these images need to be able to represent the game.”
They go on to say “We ask that any images you upload to the ‘screenshot’ section of your store page should be screenshots that show your game. This means avoiding using concept art, pre-rendered cinematic stills, or images that contain awards, marketing copy, or written product descriptions. Please show customers what your game is actually like to play.”
They then describe how they themselves have wrongly done this in the past with DOTA 2, posting a screenshot that you can see at the top of this post.
This is definitely a great move on Valve’s part, as it further ensures that gamers know what they’re getting into before purchasing a game. If any future No Man’s Sky situations can be avoided with this new policy then it will be well worth it.
