Steam Greenlight: A Revolutionary Program and Its Controversial End

KOMPAS.com – Fourteen years ago or in 2012, Valve launched one of the controversial platforms in Steam history, called Steam Greenlight.

This program was introduced as a way for indie developers to incorporate game they to Steam Store, through a community voting system.

When it was launched, Greenlight actually brought an idea that was considered revolutionary. Valve hands over part of the curation process to players.

Steam users can vote to determine which games deserve to enter the digital store. The goal is to open up opportunities for small developers who don’t have access to large publishers or traditional distribution channels.

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On paper, this concept is actually quite promising. Greenlight is expected to be an entry point for indie games that previously had difficulty getting attention.

This system is also considered a form of democratization of the gaming industry, with the community playing a direct role in determining the content available on Steam.

However, in practice, Greenlight actually triggers various problems.

As time goes by, the platform is filled with various unhealthy things. There are those who are just campaigning to get votes so that their game passes, there are those who make simple game projects that are not serious, and there are even those who abuse the system.

Some developers also take shortcuts. They buy or use finished assets from marketplace like the Unity Asset Store, then create a simple game without effort big.

This practice is known as an “asset flip”. Once finished, the game is immediately registered with Greenlight.

Because the system relies on the number of votes based on voting, game quality is not always the main determinant.

Games with trailer viral ones or unique concepts are easier to attract attention and get votes, even though the quality is mediocre. On the other hand, games that are made seriously but lack promotion can actually lose competitiveness.

Apart from that, there are security gaps in the platform Steam Greenlight This has also been in the spotlight because there are games that contain it malware pass into the platform.

This condition made gamers criticize Greenlight and say that this platform was actually not ready.

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Until now, many observers consider Greenlight to be the cause of the increasing number of games on Steam, including low quality games.

Because of this, Valve then set a registration fee of 100 US dollars and replaced Greenlight with a new system called Steam Direct.

Behind the controversy, Greenlight also gave birth to many successful games. Some popular games such as Stardew Valley, Undertale, A Hat in TimeAnd Project Zomboid first received attention through this platform before finally becoming a big success in the market.

Steam Greenlight was officially discontinued in 2017 and replaced by Steam Direct. This new system makes the selection process more controlled by Valve, with costs and a stricter verification process.

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