Late edit:
per https://sopuli.xyz/comment/14584874 & https://bsky.app/profile/steamdb.info/post/3lhsxkmaj7c2c this is not a new policy.
Late edit:
per https://sopuli.xyz/comment/14584874 & https://bsky.app/profile/steamdb.info/post/3lhsxkmaj7c2c this is not a new policy.
Valve will let players (including kids) gamble on skins because it boosts player count. According to them.
Big publishers will still give you rewards for signing up somewhere, entering something, going to an arbitrary website and watching their stream, etc.
But for the small devs: you’re not allowed to even give a player a reward for watching an ad. The choice doesn’t even matter. It just can’t be done.
It’s a private corporation so Valve can do whatever they want though.
Would much rather pay a small developer directly than be force-fed ads, even if the excuse is that the ads pay the bills. I don’t think this is a particularly unique sentiment and there are plenty of less scummy ways to generate funding than by running advertisements.
Arguably, the whole mobile app store ecosystem became a shithole because we weren’t willing to pay a buck or two for a an app. It led to an environment where alternative forms of monetization are so common that a lot of devs don’t even bother making a premium, ad-free version.