Valve, developer and publisher of game franchises such as "Half-Life" and "Left 4 Dead", as well as the owner of the online digital game store, Steam, has sent a notice regarding screenshots in store pages to all game publishers and developers on Steam. Valve may soon be requiring game developers to post images that only contain in-game screen captures of their games during actual gameplay, in the screenshot portion of the product page of their game, rather than using images that contain marketing elements, pre-rendered details, or artwork.
According to gaming sites Gamespot and Polygon as well as computer industry publication PC Magazine, Valve sent notices to all software developers and publishers who have any software being sold on Steam. In the notice, it said that since images that are not obtained from a game or software during real gameplay or use, may confuse or even mislead customers, Valve is requesting all publishers and developers to ensure that all images uploaded to the screenshot section of the store page represent actual use or gameplay of their software or game. The reasons for the request are so that customers can get a better preview of how the game plays or how the software works as well Valve planning to show more screenshots in additional places within Steam.
Valve also mentioned that marketing materials, product descriptions, or product showcasing, should be placed in the appropriate sections of the store page instead of inside screenshots. Valve admitted that they had not given clear guidelines on screenshots in the past. In addition, Valve confessed that they too were guilty of placing images that did not depict real gameplay for their games such as in the "DOTA 2" product page.
The move by Valve is particularly relevant because of controversies regarding pre-release screenshots of some games. The often cited example for pre-release screenshots being quite different from what the game turned out to be is the game "No Man's Sky". The United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority is investigating Hello Games, the developer of "No Man's Sky", for false advertising, pointing to the features shown on the game's Steam page that, gamers have complained, are not present in the released game.
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