Valve has just rolled out fresh guidelines for Steam season passes (DLC) to help prevent gamers from being misled! It’s interesting to see that the company views season passes in a similar way to pre-purchases, which means they’re subject to many of the same rules and considerations.
According to the recent guidelines, developers who provide a season pass are essentially committing to deliver future content. During the launch phase, they must establish a timeline for each content release included in the season pass.
Valve emphasizes that season passes on Steam will be infrequent and will only be offered through partners with whom they have a solid relationship and a demonstrated history of success on the platform.
Season Pass Guidelines
When a Season Pass is made available for purchase on Steam, it must include the following information:
- A complete list of all DLC included in the Pass. (i.e. listing each of the four DLCs included in a Pass).
- A basic description of the content that’s included in each DLC. For example, the first content release might be “The Glitterlands Expansion – New area to explore, two new weapons, and new enemies.” It’s not required for the DLC to have a final name at the launch of the Season Pass. The information about the content in the DLC doesn’t need to be detailed (simply “new weapons” or “two new weapons” is acceptable, they don’t have to list the exact weapons).
- Expected release date for each DLC. Quarter and Year (i.e. January to March 2025) or Season/Year is acceptable. Of course, a date that’s more precise is also fine (i.e. June 2025 or June 1st, 2025).
If you want to read all the other guidelines, they are laid out in their Steam Works Documentation Here
