Valve has released new guidelines for Steam Season Passes (DLC) to prevent gamers from being misled! It’s interesting to note that the company views season passes in a similar way to advance purchases. That means many of the same rules and considerations apply.
Recent guidelines state that developers offering season passes are essentially committing to providing future content. During the launch phase, you will need to establish a schedule for the release of each piece of content included in your season pass.
Valve emphasizes that season passes on Steam will be infrequent and will only be available through partners with established relationships and a proven track record of success on the platform.
Season Pass Instructions
When the Season Pass becomes available for purchase on Steam, it must contain the following information:
- Here is a complete list of all DLC included in the pass. (e.g. listing each of the four DLCs included in the pass)
- This is a basic description of the content included in each DLC. For example, your first content release might be “The glitterlands Expansion – a new area to explore, two new weapons, and a new enemy.” There is no need to decide on a final name for the DLC when the Season Pass launches. Information about the content of the DLC does not need to be detailed (simply “a new weapon” or “two new weapons” is acceptable; there is no need to list the exact weapons).
- Estimated release dates for each DLC. Quarters and years (e.g. January-March 2025) or seasons/years are accepted. Of course, it’s okay if the date is more accurate (e.g. June 2025 or June 1, 2025).
If you’d like to read all other instructions, they’re in the Steam Works documentation here.
