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Valve has implemented a new moderation system for Steam Workshop.
As spotted by PCGN (via Eurogamer), members of the Global Offensive subreddit shared screenshots of a message that popped up once they’d made a submission to the system. Although not formally announced by Valve, a new message now reads: “Moderators need to approve the latest version of this item before it will be visible to other players in the Workshop”.
The Steam Workshop is a “central hub of player-created content and tools” that enable players to publish mods and new items such as hats or weapons, or download mods directly into their games. However, abuse of the system has seen malicious scripts added into some titles, which has prompted players and developers alike to call for better moderation of the system.
“Newly submitted and updated items will be placed into a moderation queue,” explains the updated help page. “You’ll be able to view and edit the content during this process, but other players will not be able to view changes until they’re approved. For updates to existing items, subscribers will have access to the previously approved version if there is one.”
Explaining that the new system has been “designed to prevent scams and account theft in the Steam Workshop”, Valve believes the approval process won’t be too unwieldy, and stated a moderation response should be returned to the creator “in less than a day”.
Valve also recently implemented an “LGBTQ+” tag and hub to enable both players and developers to find, and categorise, LGBTQ+-friendly titles on its Steam storefront. Steam’s recommendations are typically generated by algorithms, but up until now, there was no “official” LGBTQ+ tag, which meant anyone who “unofficially” tagged it would see their personal preferences trumped by Steam’s official ones. The change now means both developers and curators can more easily discover and promote LGBTQ+ games.
Valve came under fire last year when a number of indie developers saw their games removed from the platform for including “pornographic content”. While some of the games affected did contain controversial materials such as incest or sex between characters in school uniforms, many others included LGBTQ+ themes and motifs that were unduly sanctioned, too.
