Valve adds $100 Steam Greenlight fee

i think it's a fair cop to weed out some of the wannabes. If it's worth publishing, they'll soon enough earn their 100 simoleons back.

Somehow, just taking $100 from a burgeoning developer that obviously hasn't been able to snag a publisher - and thus is ALREADY strapped for cash - is going to deter people from using Greenlight.

The money cannot be immediately sent to Child's Play. Only upon acceptance of the game into the Steam catalogue via Greenlight or upon the discovery of the post being a sham post or against the TOS, should the money be sent to CP.

If the project isn't wanted by the people choosing games in Greenlight, that shouldn't harm the developers even a penny, because they're gonna need all the money they can get to purchase and maintain the requisite infrastructure to self-publish it.

if this was EA they would keep the money to them selfs, good on u valve this is why i buy your games your completely selfless and we love u for it.  

Maybe valve should split it up into two categories. Devs corner and the community desires. Community desires could be where community members can submit their suggestions on what want valve to try to get (no fee to suggest games in this section, but it is recommended they offer info on the game just to show they're taking it seriously), while Devs Corner is where devs can submit stuff and work out a deal with valve.

It's mildly surprising to me that they didn't do this out of the gate.  It's predictable that a free submission process would lead to some dreck, and Valve had to set the bar somehow.  I might have wished that they had tried a $25 or $50 submission fee first, but what do I know?

Good for Valve, if this fee helps to deter the avalanche of crap that gets submitted to Green Light, the better.

I don't understand why everyone is so upset. 100$ to keep the project free of 2000 "Tetris" clone submissions a day sounds reasonable. Again, it isn't like the money is going to Valve. The 100$ goes to charity. How much is it to get a game posted on PSN, XBL, or Origin? I would bet much more than 100$, and I would also guess that none of that goes to charity. Does that make it alright? No, but as of right now it is the best option for a widespread release without a ton of money. People complaining can always create a free website through Google, and host your software there.

On the other hand, I think Valve could use two options. One for a top tier that consists of people who donated, and a second tier of people who didn't. This makes both sides happy. Maybe even have an option to sort content by "donation amount." The more give, then the more you get... noticed.

I really didn't like the idea from the get-go, but this does seem like a pretty reasonable decision.

If you're really seriously invested in your project, $100 is nothing. Keeps legitimate submissions up. I think its a very reasonable decision, and they're donating all the money.. Good people

its so nice to see the big boys dieing, and small up and coming folks getting their shot.  

So apparently these guys aren't greedy. Kudos to them if they really are donating the fees. I won't be involved in this, but I wouldn't mind giving a little to a company like them. That is if they are all they are cracked up to be. 

100 USD to be allowed to enter the product in development on Steam for a chance for it to be selected to be allowed to be published on steam, a platform used by millions and millions of potential customers ?

That's very reasonable and keeps the site free from spam - Now trolls can't just throw all the crap they consider worthy (and fake titles) onto the platform, plus all the money goes directly to charity, so win / win.

If a developer thinks that his game won't even break even with the 100 USD submission, why would he bother in the first place anyways and bear in mind, this is a one time payment for an unlimited amount of submissions.

A reasonable approach for very small but passionate development studios with financial issues could for example be to run a kickstarter with a let's say 1000 USD goal and use that money to pay for the Steam Greenlight entry fee (and could also cover some of the software license costs).

Very good decision by Valve in my opinion.

100 dollars? That's quite harsh.

Sometimes you've got to spend money to make money.  If you've got a problem with it, you still have the option of publishing yourself (and good luck with that!)

I wish Apple would follow Steams example. I hate how on the Apple App Store you get all those stupid Chinese and Russian ripoff games. I have seen ripoffs of Minecraft, Pokemon and many other games. If Apple did this I don't think we would see those to often anymore. I say it's a good idea from Valve and GO STEAM!

I don't know why everyone is complaining. I checked out the games on there and they are mostly garbage. It reminds me of the XBLA Indie games. All mostly garbage with very few decent games.

"All proceeds from submission fees will be donated to Child's Play..."

Riiiight.....

Steam sucks , period.

Damn. That is awfully steep. I would think they could have settled for a MUCH lower number and still weeded out the garbage.

More fee's. That's why humanity is imploding on itself. We are all chocked to death by fee's and bills.

I understand why they're doing it, but it will be tough on some indie devs, regardless of how "serious" they are.  They already have other development costs involved, and now it's $100 just to submit in the hopes that the Greenlight community will promote you?  Potentially painful to some folks who might be living week to week on mac & cheese or ramen noodles.

I only wanted legitimate submissions any ways, this does the job perfectly. And getting deserving kids good entertainment is a saucy little bonus.

I'm glad Valve decided to give the money to Child's Play instead of pocketing it. I don't mind them charging the steep price if it's going to a good cause. Way to go Valve!

The fee may be a little bit steep, but that money is going to a cause (a good one, at that).

The clutter will be cut, and any developer who is even remotely serious about their project would not mind the fee. Never mind that Greenlight is a service that brings attention to the games, and allows them to potentially be released on STEAM (arguably the best digital distribution platform, with millions of users...). Why should such a service be free?

As a back yard developer myself I have absolutely nothing against this fee.

Best way it to try your game on other platforms (they will filter your work using other methods that not money) and after you are confident about it you go to Steam or any other platform of your preference.

Im pretty sure that making the fee 10 bux would cut down the clutter...