Steam Greenlight is dead: Valve introduces Steam Direct

Valve wants to take itself out of the equation when it comes to the Steam PC gaming marketplace, and that means it is ending the Steam Greenlight program and introducing a far more open platform.

Steam Direct is a new path for developers to bring their games to the Steam store, and Valve is looking to launch it this spring. Under this new program, any and all developers are welcome to launch their games on Steam. All they have to do is fill out some basic paperwork (similar to opening a bank account) and then pay a to-be-determined fee. Valve is still talking with a range of gamemakers about that charge, but it is considering between $200 and $5,000 per game submission. Valve will also do a simple check to ensure that the game runs on the operating systems it says it does and that there is some game-type content, but — beyond that — it’s letting nearly any game loose on the community.