If you’ve been waiting for the chance to give game developers a piece of your mind…we don’t really know what you’ve been waiting for, as that is pretty much all the Internet is for. BUT! If you have been waiting patiently for a chance to make your voice heard in a reasonable manner that may actually have some sort of small weight in determining what sort of games get developed, Valve is opening their doors. The developer’s Steam service launched Greenlight today, a service that looks for advice from the community on what games the should offer on their service, and what they can safely mothball.
If this sounds kind of like a small-scale Kickstarter just for Steam games, it’s because it functions in largely the same manner. Developers can upload screenshots and descriptions of games they’re working on, and users get to weigh in with their sentiments. Then Valve gets to take those sentiments into account when their team is making the decisions on what to distribute, and what to stay away from. And of course, since it wouldn’t be a discussion of video games on the Internet without one, each entry has a discussion board where you can offer your opinions and dismiss those of others in a derisive fashion, just as the gods intended.
In addition to helping Valve decide what they should be releasing into the wild, the site offers independent developers feedback on what the community thinks about their games — what they like, what needs to change, and even when they may need to head back to the drawing board altogether.
(via Steam)
- You’re also getting a suite of apps from Steam soon, so…great?
- It will also be on your TV. There is no escape. Resistance is futile.
- You’ve gotta think this process would have fast-tracked Castle Crashers
