2d ago

Valve bans all Steam games that force players to watch advertisements

www.eurogamer.net Steam games that force players to watch advertisements are banned, Valve emphasises

Valve has emphasised its rules around advertising, explicitly prohibiting games that force players to watch in-game ads.

Late edit:

per https://sopuli.xyz/comment/14584874 & https://bsky.app/profile/steamdb.info/post/3lhsxkmaj7c2c this is not a new policy.

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2d ago

Valve bans all Steam games that force players to watch advertisements

www.eurogamer.net /valve-bans-all-steam-games-that-force-players-to-watch-advertisements

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48 comments

They should do the same on the Play and App Store.
There’s even games where you can pay to remove ads, but it will still ask you if you wanna watch an ad to get a bonus or some shit. Fuck that.
- I feel like spotify does a similar thing. Even if you have premium, sometimes i just get random ads and it's like oh no what a glitch in the system.
  
  Been a paying Spotify customer for 16 years, never got an ad.
  
  I've been using Premium for 2+ years now and not once did that happen. Maybe something with cache?
- They should do the same on the Play and App Store.
  95% of "games" removed
  
  I am very sure that it's more than 95%
  
  At least 95% of them are shit anyway 😂
  I really enjoy Apple Arcade. Quality games for the kids with no ads or micro transactions.
  
  Is that a subscription
  
  Yes. It’s $6.99/mo for access to a load of games with no ads or IAPs. Half of the games on there are only available on Apple Arcade, the others are editions of regular App Store games but with no ads and all the IAPs already unlocked.
  It kinda sucks that Apple gatekeeps certain games behind the subscription though… I wanted to play Mini Motorways on mobile, but it’s only available through Apple Arcade. For comparison Mini Metro is a OTP of $5 iirc.
  
  It's Apple, ofc it is 🥲
  
  It comes with Apple One. Not sure if it’s a standalone subscription though.
  
  Apple Arcade is $6.99 a month.
  
  dawncaster is enough tbh
- This is exactly why I don't play games on mobile.
  I absolutely don't have the time to wade through that shit.
  about a year ago, I was like, "It'd be nice to have a few mindless games on my phone"... tried like four... just ADS ADS ADS...
  Even the ones where I liked the game, and wanted to just remove the ad bullshit for a price... nothing...
  
  Loop hero
  Vampire Survivors base game is free and has the option of watching and ad for a free revive (which you don't get at all on other platforms)
  Slay the spire
  Balatro
  Plenty of great games without ads
  
  Yeah I don't play very many mobile games due to ads. I'm just picky AF.
  I have all those games and Stardew Valley on my phone and tablet on my devices.
  
  On my phone, I have two games:
  PySolFC - FOSS collection of a bunch of solitaire-like games, with varying levels of attention required
  Lichess - FOSS chess game, with puzzles, bots, and MP
  The first is available on F-Droid, not sure about other stores, and the second is probably available everywhere (I got it on Google Play).
  I, too, got tired of sifting through ad-riddled BS and just didn't play games on my phone for years.
  
  Fuck yeah Lichess is great!
  
  Yup, I'll be throwing them a donation this year. They provide a wonderful service.
  
  GooglePlay search favors popular trash, but there and on F-Droid you can still find some fun ones without ads. Searching from outside, like on a regular web search engine or lemmy\reddit subs for free games may help. I don't mind piracy but I was glad to obtain Antimine and Mindustry. Also, there are ways to block internet or patch apps, but they usually imply you have root and may break things if not careful.
  Idk about iPhone apps, but I'm sure the first solution would work too and the second means jailbreaking thus cutting off most of their praised ecosystem.
  
  Yeah, there is a tiny amount of good mobile games, like oceanhorn or world of goo. You're better off just sticking to emulating console games on mobile, than playing native mobile games
  
  Yeah it's really hard to find the few normal ones.
  I don't like promoting Netflix but I was surprised how many good phone games you can get with your subscription, like Hades, Civilization 6 or Rise of the golden idol. Doesn't seem to me like phone games are a good match for Netflix but hey these good games are free now for me.
  Also Balatro is great on the phone
  
  Seems like phone games are a good match if it makes even %1 of their subscription's stick around. Gives you another excuse to not cancel a subscription that's slowly losing it's value over time.
  Jesus, Netflix games.... my mind is still baffled.
  
  Mobile game subscriptions (like apple) is good. Every once in a while I’ll find a great game with no ads. Just dlc. I usually try to support them. I’ve been playing unnamed space idle for months, and it’s a great example of a game of a developer that respects its players.
- The difference is that google directly gets money from those ads. Not sure if apple also uses the same ad system but I would assume it is.
- I don't mind the fact that apps on Android show ads. I mind the terrible inconsistency of those ads. Some have an X button at the top left, some at the top right. I've seen "mute" buttons in at least three different quadrants, plus some are within a small landscape window rather than taking up the full portrait-held phone. And some don't have mute at all.
  And then some have a fake-out X button that actually clicks on the ad if you try to use it.
  And a couple of times I've gotten an ad that I literally couldn't exit. Had to force quit the app to get back to it.
  If the ads were a consistent experience, I would have a much less intensely negative opinion of them.
- Yes, that's yet another dark pattern.
  \ You can use this site to help with your game choices.
  
  Totally don't care for mobile games, but this, for sure, is one very helpful resource to comb through this pile of rabble.
  
  This is a wonderful resource (as far as I have read). I am happy to see various nuance incorporated into the reviews!
  
  I use it to vet ganes for my kids at a glance. I still allow them to play some but I want them going in with eyes open to the machinations going on.

48 comments