Steam Greenlight to allow community to vote on indie games

Valve's announced a new system called Steam Greenlight today, which'll allow its users to vote on what games they want to see released on Steam from August onwards.

The service will allow developers to showcase their games to the public, allowing them to post screenshots, videos, and information about their game. It'll then be upto the community to decide whether they would like to see it featured on Steam or not.

Steam's put in place a few rules which developers need to follow in order to get accepted as an entry into Steam Greenlight.

• A square branding image (similar to a box cover) to represent the game in lists and search
• At least one video showing off the game or presenting the concept
• At least four screenshots or images
• A written description of the game along with tentative system requirements

Greenlight won't require a set number of votes for a title to get accepted into Steam, instead it'll be there to help Valve decide what games the community is more keen on getting a Steam release.

"We're going to be reaching out to developers as we see their games getting traction regardless of whether they have achieved a specific number of votes or are sitting first or second place at any given time. We are most interested in finding the games that people want, not requiring them to always hit a specific number of votes," said Valve on the official Steam Greenlight website.

Even if a game fails to get selected, it'll remain listed on Greenlight until the game's developer removes it manually.

Valve is encouraging developers to post about their games as early as possible, and has set up different categories for concepts and playable builds.

"We ask that you only define your game as 'playable game' if you have a playable build that demonstrates the gameplay mechanics and at least one level of your game. Otherwise, please classify your submission as 'concept' until its far enough along that the community can reasonably evaluate the mechanics, scope, and style of your game. Either way, you will probably get great feedback and a good start in building a community of fans around your game."

The games submitted must not contain any offensive material or violate any copyright or IP rights, Valve's warned. It's also mandatory for your game to have a working PC build in order to be considered.

The community-oriented service seems well poised to answer quiet criticism of Steam's previously opaque selection process, which has rejected a number of indie favourites as 'not a good fit', to the bafflement of eager fans and disappointment of developers.