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Microsoft Patents “Ad-Credit” System for PC and Consoles to Serve In-Game Ads During Pause Windows (respawnfirst.com)
submitted 3 days ago by alessandro@lemmy.ca to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca
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[-] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 32 points 3 days ago

Did they? Just searched the web and, voila you are right: https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/valve-clarifies-ban-on-in-game-advertising-on-steam Now they do not link to the page they cite (bad habit, I hate that), so let me quickly find the source... aaand there it is: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/advertising

Not Supported

  • Developers should not utilize paid advertising as a business model in their game, such as requiring players to watch or otherwise engage with advertising in order to play, or gating gameplay behind advertising. If your game's business model relies on advertising on other platforms, you will need to remove those elements before shipping on Steam. Some options you could consider include switching to a single purchase "paid app," or making your game free to play with optional upgrades sold via Microtransactions or Downloadable Content (DLC).
  • Developers should not use advertising as a way to provide value to players, such as giving players a reward for watching or engaging with advertising in their game.
  • Developers should not charge other developers for access to Steam features. These include sale pages, bundles, store pages, franchise pages, etc.
[-] AceBonobo@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

That doesn't discuss pause screen ads, unfortunately.

[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 15 points 3 days ago

Developers should not utilize paid advertising as a business model in their game.

If they accept money to show those pause screen ads, that's part of their business model and it wouldn't be allowed.

[-] radix@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I'm no lawyer, so I'm sure some corporate goon (on either side) will find loopholes to do whatever they want, but the idea is to ban mobile-style F2P games where you show ads alongside gameplay or "watch ads to refill your play meter" as your only revenue stream. Some other kinds of in-game advertising are still allowed. Unfortunately.

[-] frongt@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 days ago

Requiring a 30-second pause every half hour (or whatever the timer is) is "gating gameplay behind advertising".

[-] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 days ago

Yes. Pause screens seem not to fall under these categories. Valve will probably update this page to clarify on this, either to allow or to ban. So its worth keeping an eye on this page for changes.

[-] MarauderIIC@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 days ago

Unfortunately "should" and "must" have different legal meanings

[-] Goldmage263@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

At least they are saying steam will not help or support that feature in any way. That reads like, if it makes your game unavailable offline, sale is prohibited.

[-] altphoto@lemmy.today 2 points 2 days ago

Or shall.

[-] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

Valve can kick out games that do not play along their rules. They should follow the rules, or they risk to get kicked out. So whats your point?

[-] MarauderIIC@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 days ago

A little harder to enforce ('no, judge, it says SHOULD, grant our civil suit please') and a little easier to grant exceptions for than saying "must" (ah sorry customers, bigco had a bunch of money, and the rules don't say MUST). It's a well known wording choice in software, see every RFC ever.

It signals to me that Valve wanted an out for their rules when they wrote them because it's an odd choice for such a well known word choice otherwise.

[-] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

I think in this context "should" and "must" are interchangeable, because its under "Not Supported" listed.

this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2026
204 points (100.0% liked)

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