Valve Steam Guidelines Ban Review Scores on Store Banners

Valve announced new Steam guidelines, banning any review scores or awards from appearing on store page art assets. In addition to the new restrictions, Valve will also be making a few changes to store page artwork overrides. Notably, one of these changes includes a requirement to localize said artwork text into all languages supported within the game. The new changes will go into effect starting September 1, 2022.

The guideline changes signal Valve’s push for clearer communication on what to expect from a game. The company explained that the change came as a result of an increase in cases where game developers would put review scores, awards, discounts, and other text into their graphical assets. This added text would often make images harder to read and, in some cases, become inaccurate or outdated.

As such, Valve will update its store graphical asset rules with the following:

1. No review scores of any kind, including Steam reviews or external news sources
2. No award names, symbols, or logos
3. No discount marketing copy (eg. no “On Sale Now” or “Up to 90% off” text)
4. No text or imagery promoting a different product. This includes no marketing of sequels or other titles in the same franchise.
5. No other miscellaneous text

The header image above includes fictional game store assets used as examples of what will no longer be allowed.

If developers wish to include any text in their graphical assets, they will have to use Capsule Artwork Overrides. Developers typically use Artwork Overrides to promote seasonal updates and DLC for their games. Furthermore, Valve will require developers to localize any of the text included in these assets into all of the languages supported in-game. Valve stated that this change is to prevent the isolation of non-English speaking Steam users.

Back in 2021, the company also banned any games with NFTs from its storefront. While the upcoming guideline changes will not remove any games from the store, Valve does note that it may limit visibility for games that do not adhere to the new guidelines.