So the deed is done, Valve have officially closed Greenlight, putting an end to the user voting system -which saw life being given to some shit games, and often abused by re-skinners and cloners.
Apparently there are over 3000 titles still stuck in the system pending approval. It’s likely those titles will undergo a higher level of scrutiny – in line with Valve’s new philosophy. Valve is also giving refunds on sign up fees to developers who didn’t get a chance to submit, or get rejected in this final round.

“Our goal is to Greenlight as many of the remaining games as we have confidence in,” said Valve’s Alden Kroll. “There are some titles that will not be Greenlit, due to insufficient voter data or concerns about the game reported by voters. Titles that are not ultimately Greenlit may still be brought to Steam via Steam Direct, provided they meet our basic criteria of legality and appropriateness.”

Under Steam Direct, developers will just pay a one off fee of US$100 for each game they submit —  which Valve will refund once the game makes more than $1000 in sales. This alone should significantly weed out the majority of low quality experiences.

Furthermore there will be a 30 day waiting period after paying the fee, in which the game and developer are assessed by Valve to make sure the quality is on par with their new direction.

A team at Valve will review each submission, installing the software to make it is an accurate representation of the store listing (and has no dodgy malware).

This all sounds fantastic. I personally think this is a great direction which will ensure more quality games get the exposure they deserve, as well has slowing the flood of submissions, giving Valve the opportunity to get up close and personal with the games during the review process.