Valve has a 'fake games' problem but it thinks it has a fix

After months of ‘fake news’ being the latest buzz word bandwagon, it’s fake games that are now grabbing attention.

According to latest reports, Valve is looking to address dodgy titles that are clogging up the Steam store, with the company reportedly ready to take positive action to counteract the issue.

With a flurry of low-quality games having been uploaded by developers looking to turn a quick profit, Valve is said to be readying a team of ‘Steam Explorers’ to weed out the sub-standard games.

These ‘Steam Explorers’ will be tasked with playing through a collection of low ranking Steam games and flagging those they think have promise. The more flags a game receive, the more prominence it will be given on the Steam platform.

The hope is that decent independent games will get the visibility they deserve, while those that are failing to deliver a decent gaming experience sink to the bottom.

From Greenlight to Direct

Although Valve has yet to launch the Explorer program, the news has surfaced via two prominent gaming YouTubers who were recently invited to Valve’s HQ.

Having discussed changes heading to the platform, YouTubers Jim Sterling and John “TotalBiscuit” Bain have detailed how the inbound initiative will look to tackle what the company internally refers to as 'fake games'.

These ‘fake games’ cover titles that are poorly made, derivative or broken and likely churned out by hooky devs looking to make a quick buck.

It’s suggested that any Steam user will be able to sign up to become an Explorer, with a dedicated forum being created to host those that take on the roles.

This is just one of a number of changes Valve is getting ready to implement.
Elsewhere, Steam Curators are to be given more information on the how their curations affect games’ sales, while regular Steam users will be offered a system that shows why particular games are being shown to them.

The news comes after Valve revealed its to ditch its Greenlight submission program, instead replacing it with a new Steam Direct system that will require developers to pay a registration fee between $100 and $5,000.

Via The Verge

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April 04, 2017 at 05:52PM
Luke Johnson