What happens when you give the entire public the opportunity to put their content in a public space? If you guessed “some people post bogus and/or vulgar content”, then you are correct, which is why Valve is attempting to stem the flow of illegitimate content on their indie service Greenlight.
Valve is adding a $100 charge to developers who wish to have their project voted into the Steam store via the Greenlight project. This, Valve says, has been done as a means of making it easier to wade through the massive pile of games already on the service, many of which are not even games.
Up to now, the only requirement to the game’s presence on the service was some visual content, as well as maybe a small description. Some games have beta applications and video links, but they were buried beneath the entries that didn’t have any sort of content.
This may seem like another attempt by Valve to make more money, but the company pointed out that the proceeds from this new policy will all go to the Child’s Play charity, which puts video game consoles into the hospital rooms of children internationally.
I’ve already voted for a few entries in Greenlight. If you’ve seen any good ones that deserve to be seen and played, name them in the comments below. Better yet, tell us about them in our forums! I made a special topic just for this!