Valve announces first ten games to make it to Steam via Greenlight

Valve recently launched a new service for its digital distribution platform called Greenlight, which lets gamers decide the indie games that should show up on Steam by a process of voting. Now, Valve has officially announced the first ten games that will be on Steam as a result of Greenlight.

The first ten titles coming to Steam from Greenlight are Black Mesa, Cry of Fear, Dream, Heroes & Generals, Kenshi, McPixel, No More Room in Hell, Project Zomboid, Routine and Towns. According to Valve, the first set of titles to launch via Greenlight will be released independently in the months ahead (as they are varying stages of completion).

Valve has announced the first ten games to make it on Steam through Greenlight

Earlier this month, Valve had announced that listing a game on Greenlight will require a $100 listing fee. The $100 posting fee will be donated to the Child’s Play charity as, according to Valve, “We have no interest in making money from this, but we do need to cut down the noise in the system”. Those who already have their games on Greenlight will not have to retroactively pay the posting fee for those games, but will need to pay it for any future submissions they make to Greenlight. This is one of the two changes Valve is making to the service. The second one is mostly a change in the way games are displayed on the Greenlight page. According to Valve, “The next time you visit Steam Greenlight you’ll be shown a smaller, manageable list of games that you haven’t rated. This view is a mix of popular games and new games to Greenlight”.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Announced earlier this summer, Steam Greenlight allows developers and publishers to post information and media about their game in an effort to convince the Community that the game should be released on Steam. Greenlight piggybacks on Steam Workshop’s flexible system that organises content and lets customers rate and leave feedback.

“We’ve been working on this feature for the last few months with the input from a group of indie partners, and the response has been extremely positive,” said Valve’s Anna Sweet when the service was launched. “With the additional help of beta testers, we are able to launch with a solid line-up of titles for the community to start viewing and rating. And, as we’ve done with all Steam features, we intend to continually grow and modify Greenlight as more and more developers and community members have a chance to get involved”.

Apart from serving as a clearing house for game submissions, Greenlight also provides an incredible level of added exposure for new games and an opportunity to connect directly with potential customers and fans.

The problem smaller developers had with Steam was that when they were attempting to get their game on Steam, they’d either get a “yes” or “no” for an answer. No explanation was given otherwise. Greenlight looks to help the developers who submit videos, demos, screenshots etc. and let the community decide if the game is worth being on Steam.

Valve is encouraging developers to update and post new builds and screenshots and demos of their games as often as possible, and actively engage with the community. Greenlight could standardise the Minecraft-styled open development.