Looks like a publisher or two have angered the sleeping giant known as Valve. Recently the company had released a statement that publishers that want to change the release date for a game must also notify them.
This is a change from the original process, where publishers and developers were able to change the dates as they pleased. Looking over the changes, it looks like Valve has been taking feedback from frustrated gamers. Mainly those who’ve waited for a game to be released, only to see that the release date changed without any notice.
So now Valve put this new change into play.
This change was made in order to help guide developers that either intentionally or unintentionally changed their release dates multiple times, causing their game to show up on certain lists in a way that was confusing to players and frustrating for other developers, accoridng to Valve.
Interesting enough, this change won’t have any bearing for developers who’ve already submitted a build to Valve for approval. For those who’ve already done this, they can change their release date still.
I’m guessing this to stem the constant release date changes on the part of developers. Valve hasn’t disclosed what could possibly happen if developers and publishers don’t follow their guidelines.
This new change definitely goes a long way to benefit the gamers, so I’m glad to see Valve taking notice.
