Time to fess up if a game has been added to a Steam Curator list and money has changed hands.
The fact that someone would actually take money to add a game to a Steam Curator list is pretty sad. How in the hell does that help gamers? It also makes a complete mockery of what Valve are trying to achieve with the Curator system but apparently it’s happening.
Valve are now stipulating that if a game is on any list and money had changed hands this fact must be disclosed. The update to the conditions reads as follows:
If you’ve accepted money or other compensation for making a product review or for posting a recommendation, you must disclose this fact in your recommendation.
It’s alarming that publishers or developers would even think of using these lists as a way of promotion. It’s absolutely no help to gamers which is surely the main reason the system was added in the first place.
It’s not surprising that more and more gamers have become frustrated with reviews and online coverage of games when even a simple list of recommendations may have actually been paid for.
In related news, developers can now also decide which Curators appear on their store pages according to Gunpoint dev Tom Francis. This has likely been added as a trolling prevention measure for devs but the whole idea of the Curator system appears to be becoming a bit of a mess and rather pointless.
If you want to follow a list that will never have any paid recommendations on it then follow the IncGamers Curators list.
Thanks Gamasutra
