Valve, the well-known PC gaming powerhouse, has rolled out a new set of rules for selling season passes on Steam. According to the updated Steamworks guidelines, developers and publishers now need to provide a specific release date when they list future content like season passes on a game’s store page. Valve makes it clear: if companies can’t “clearly communicate” the timing for this content, they should refrain from selling or accepting pre-orders.
This new mandate gives developers and publishers some flexibility. They can choose to offer a broad release timeframe — such as mentioning a particular quarter, year, or season — or they can pinpoint an exact date for the upcoming content.
Valve puts it plainly: “By offering a Season Pass, you are promising future content,” the company stated. They elaborate further, explaining that when launching a Season Pass, developers will need to pledge a launch timeline for each piece of content included. This timeline isn’t just a loose suggestion; it’s a promise to their customers and to Steam itself.
The message from Valve is clear: If developers aren’t prepared to provide specific details about each DLC and its launch schedule, they should reconsider offering a Season Pass on the platform.
