Valve has a new fix to stop developers abusing Steam's Upcoming Releases feature
It's about time.
Steam's 'Upcoming Releases' section has always been a bit of a mess to look through for consumers - but for developers legitimately trying to promote their games, it's even more of a hassle to navigate.
This is because, until now, devs on the platform had the ability to change the release date of their games whenever they wanted, allowing them to constantly use the Upcoming Releases list to promote their games.
The new change means developers will still be able to set a release date when the game first goes up on the platform, but if they want to alter that date they'll have to contact Valve directly.
Finally the end of Release Date abuse in Steam from r/Steam
Reddit user u/HeadlessIvan posted a screenshot of the update, which suggests developers will need to come up with a good reason why Valve should let them change their release date.
Back in March, some devs expressed concerns about how others were abusing the feature to constantly promote their games, and finally Valve appears to have listened to those concerns.
Hopefully with the new fix in place, the upcoming games list will show Steam users the games that are actually upcoming, and help out the game creators who rely on the visibility the list provides.