The way I see it, there are two sides to the Greenlight debate: one which would like all floodgates to be opened, and the other which would like the curated store. I try to reach a compromise between the two views.
(This is a repost from my devblog over at Pyrodactyl Games)
Steam Greenlight – the new approval process for indie games on Steam can’t catch a break. Everyone from players, developers, press, politicians and even Gabe Newell himself have criticized the process. Some Valve employees had a chat with developers in a developer group yesterday, where I presented these suggestions:
Let anyone sell their game on Steam, with games hidden from the main steam storefront and search bar by default.
Developers can sell their game by directing people to a store.steampowered.com/app/abcxyz/ URL from their website without the steam storefront getting cluttered.
Journalists and other sites can also direct people to the address – measure traction by sales instead of “yes” votes.
If a game gains traction, make it visible and accessible from the main storefront.
Convert Greenlight into an unfiltered version of the steam store, where only the “hidden” titles are visible, and communicate the difference between the two stores clearly.
Miscellaneous thoughts
A “Verified by Steam” logo that lets people know this game is on the main storefront (Nintendo seal of quality anyone)?
Keep the 100 dollar fee if you are worried about being bombarded with a lot of games (thought whether it actually does that is a different matter).
The way I see it, there are two sides to the debate: one which would like all floodgates to be opened, and the other which would like the curated store. Both have their benefits and drawbacks, and what I have tried to do is think of a way to reach a compromise between being accessible to everyone and keeping the great curated store we all love.
Related Links
Crunching Koalas have a nice summary of the Q&A on their site
This NeoGAF post about steam providing a store widget is a great idea
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