14 DAY TRIAL // Valve has taken a stance against developers whose games are on Steam Greenlight and promise free keys for votes, as it's an attempt to cheat the system and doesn't accurately portray the genuine interest from users in that title.
Valve's intriguing Steam Greenlight system was devised as a way to let the tens of millions of users help the studio allow even more games inside the actual digital distribution service. Players are invited to vote on what titles they'd like to buy through Steam, and once games reach various thresholds, Valve will feature them on its store.
Free keys for votes isn't a good strategy, Valve says
Unfortunately, the Greenlight system has been affected by different controversies over the years, and now a fresh one has reared its head, as more and more developers promise free Steam keys in exchange for Greenlight votes.
Valve has officially taken a stance against this practice, offering a statement, via SteamDB, in which it warns developers whose games are up for vote on Greenlight to refrain from offering free keys in exchange for users' support.
According to the company, while this is a form of marketing, it doesn't accurately reflect the desire for the game, and often results in an even longer period before the title is accepted into the Steam store, as its employees have to carefully research the voting patterns.
“We do not think these votes accurately reflect customer interest and it makes our job harder in deciding which games customers would actually buy and play on Steam. We understand that running contests or giving away copies of your game can be viewed as a form of marketing. But for the purposes of Greenlight, we don’t think that giving away copies of your game in exchange for votes accurately reflects genuine customer interest," the studio explains.
Instead of resorting to such practices, Valve advises developers to upload accurate and interesting gameplay videos, screenshots, and details on their Greenlight pages, in order to get fair votes from the Steam community.