The great litmus test of Valve’s tolerance for potential competitors in their midst is over. The verdict? Sorry, but nope.
Despite Valve’s general openness to a lot of stuff major video game companies like Sony and Microsoft would categorically fire out of a catapult and into the ocean (players making entire games with their IP/characters, services like Ubisoft’s Uplay cohabiting with Steam, etc), they are not on board with the idea of mom ‘n’ pop indie game shop Itch.io having an app on the Steam store. Their Greenlight listing has been removed from Steam.
Itch.io founder Leaf Corcoran posted Valve’s explanation to Twitter:
So I guess Valve is cracking down on the types of non-gaming software they’re allowing onto Steam more so than they used to. Or maybe this is just a really long, egregiously formal way of saying, “What you guys do is too similar to what we do, even if you’re itsy bitsy and we’re hugey-wugey. Sorry ‘bout that.” Regardless, their store, their rules. So it goes.
Interestingly, it does seem like Itch.io did pretty well on Greenlight:
Oh well. It’s not like Itch.io will cease to exist (hopefully), and it will likely continue to be a friendly neighborhood breeding pit for interesting indies—some of which will ultimately end up on Steam. And while you might not be able to download Itch.io’s app from Steam’s non-gaming software selection, there’s still a full range of thrilling products like You Need A Budget 4, ASMR Universe, and Quicken WillMaker Plus. You know, for when you’re planning your death!
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